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KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PO BOX 3585
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
nansan
There will be periods of cloudy skies and sunshine throughout the day.
Wednesday
February 4, 1998
Section:
A
Vol. 108 · No. 93
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Iowa native Raef LaFrentz and the Kansas men's basketball team will take on Iowa State tonight in Ames.
SEE PAGE 1B
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State bans Med Center abort Exceptions allowed something and everybody got something, so there was nobody who was really opposed." Praeger said that abortion-rights arose last year when legislators battled about a similar abortion provision. On campus, neither aborti expressed interest in the group. in emergency cases
By Brandon Coppe
bcoppe@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The Kansas Senate approved a hospital reorganization plan yesterday that includes a provision banning most abortion procedures at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Abortions at the Med Center will be prohibited except in the event of a medical emergency that threatens the life or health of the mother. Med
Center faculty and students will not be prohibited from performing abortions outside Med Center property.
On Monday, the House of Representatives approved the bill with little debate. In yesterday's discussion and 39-1 vote in the Senate, no legislators raised serious objections to the abortion provision, according to Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence.
"It was a good compromise," Praeger said. "Everybody gave up
Praeger said that abortion-rights legislators were satisfied that emergency abortions would be allowed. She said medical students who wanted to be trained in abortion procedures still could receive training, although not at the Med Center.
The intention of the bill was to enable the hospital to compete with private health care providers in Kansas City, according to legislators. The hospital will be governed by a private board that will include the chancellor and Med Center officials.
Praeger said her office had received no public response to the bill, in contrast to the outcry that
Andrea VanDyke, Atchison sophomore and co-chairwoman of KU Students for Life, said her group was pleased with the legislation, but not completely satisfied.
"The more rare abortion is, the better," she said. "But a ban at the Med Center isn't going to make the situation any easier for women. Abortion is still wrong, and we still have a lot of work to do."
VanDyke said that KU Students for Life was formed last semester and had about 30 active members. She said more than 350 students had
"If it's not available, a lot of people may choose not to learn," she said. "There's only a few places in Kansas where a woman can get an abortion, and that's not adequate for women who need that service."
Deer said she was concerned that fewer students would be trained in abortion procedures.
"I think whythe state decides to interfere or decide what and when
Medical student Connie Jaeger, founding member of Med Students for Choice, said the group had not organized a response to the bill.
a med school is going to teach, it's going to affect med students," she said. "It's not like we were forcing anyone to learn them before. If you didn't want to learn, you didn't have to."
Jaeger said she thought a medical school should not require its students to learn abortion procedures at other hospitals.
But Praeger said many abortion-rights legislators voted for the provision because it allowed students to get their training elsewhere.
Trash to treasure
"Providers that might be called on to perform that service can still be trained," she said. "The good news is that the Med Center is going to be able to operate more efficiently, and we haven't impaired their teaching ability."
Recycle team cleans campus, finds reward
Recycling technicians Kara King, Blue Rapids junior, and Jacqueline Weston, Vancouver, British Columbia, graduate student, salvage reusable goods at the new recycling trailer on West Campus. The trailer arrived yesterday.
By Graham K. Johnson gjohnson@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The five University of Kansas students employed by the Office of Resource Conservation and Recycling play a crucial role in making the University's recycling program work.
"Oh, they're everything," said Victoria Silva, the office's environmental specialist and the head of the program. "We couldn't do a program like this without them."
The technicians collect the recyclables bins on campus and then sort and check every item for contaminants.
"It's labor intensive, however." King said.
"It's not like you're sitting behind the desk."
"We also have to keep records on databases of how much we collect," said Kara King, Blue Rapids junior and environmental policy major. King has worked with the program since November.
The five technicians' salaries come from student fees that support the recycling program.
Silva said that because of the labor, she required employees to work with at least one other person. The students work 15 to 20 hours per week in four-hour blocks. The job pays seven dollars per hour.
"It's a big success that were are able employ students with their own fee money," Silva said.
Some students say the educational benefits of the job are great.
"It's hard to find jobs closely related to your field," King said. "I thought that this was a perfect job to get experience with."
Jayson Wylie, Topeka senior and recycling
"Oh, they are everything. We couldn't do a program like this without them."
Victoria Silva
head of University recycling program
technician, said he learned a lot that would help with his environmental history studies
"I've really got a good idea and grasp for how you would have to implement a program for an institution as big as this." Wylie said.
Silva said the technicians were committed to the environment. One requirement makes
the jobs different from other student-hourly jobs. The job requires that students have an environmental studies-related major. Silva said.
King said that although the job could get dirty and smelly, the benefits were significant.
"It's great to see those huge bags and know that they aren't going to a landfill, that they are going to be reused." King said.
Wylie, who likened his position to a "skilled garbage collector", said that he received similar satisfaction from his job and that it was certainly much better than a lot of other work.
"It's a lot better than flipping burgers," Wylie said.
Medical school applicants drop, echo U.S. trend
By Lisa Stevens John
jlohn@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
After a decade of upward spiraling, the number of applications submitted to the nation's medical schools has declined.
In 1996, U.S. medical schools reached a record high of 46,968 applications. But in 1997 this number dropped to 43,020, an 8.4 percent decrease, according to statistics by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Statistics at the University of Kansas Medical Center reflect the national trend.
"We're on the downhill side again," said Sandra McCurdy, assistant dean of admissions at the Med Center.
Crosby said the book reported that KU for the most part only accented Kansas residents.
Each year, the Med Center accepts 175 students. McCurdy said 90 percent of those students usually were Kansas residents.
The Med Center's mid-priced tuition did not seem to be a deterrent, McCurdy said.
The Med Center's numbers peaked in 1994 with 2,862 applicants and gradually decreased to 1,570 for the 1997 class.
The Med Center has 1,407 applicants for 1998, McCurdy said.
Paul Crosby, a pre-medicine adviser at the University of Kansas, said a resource book on medical school admissions could be a part of the reason for the decline in applications.
One year general biology
One year inorganic chemistry
One year organic chemistry
One year physics
One course in mathematics
One year English
Tuition for in-state medical students is $9,184. The out-of-state tuition is $22,234, McCurdy said.
This compares to other universities, which range from a high of $20,000 to a low of $2,000 for in-state tuition, McCurdy said.
Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, advises the University's Pre-Med Club.
Rock said the drop in medical school applications may reflect a growing trend towards managed care groups. Managed health care is provided by large health organizations, corporations, and government entities.
Chris Arnold, Topeka junior,
is the president of the Pre-Med
Club. Arnold said that the drop
in the number of medical school
applications might be saying
something about the practice of
medicine.
"Considering the way medicine is being promoted right now, maybe it's just not as promising for future physicians," Arnold said.
Police name arson as cause of Malott Hall elevator fire
University of Kansas police issued a crime alert Monday for a case of aggravated arson that occurred Friday afternoon in Malott Hall.
Sgt. Chris Keary said a liquid, which burned the floor of the elevator, was used to ignite the fire.
The fire, which occurred in the west freight elevator, caused the evacuation of more than 100 people.
The fire alarm was pulled on the sixth floor, and smoke was visible outside of the elevator doors, KU police said. The damage was estimated at $50.
Police sent samples from the scene to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for analysis.
Malott, which houses the chemistry department, was the site of another small fire Jan. 14.
The cause of that fire was unknown. It began when an explosion imitted a dumper in the southeast corner of Malott.
Keary urged anyone with information regarding the arson to call Crime Stoppers at 864-8888. The line is open 24 hours, and anonymity is protected.
Kearay said police did not know if the two fires were connected. "We will look at all incidents in the building," he said.
New ID cards tried and true
By Gerry Dayle and Aaron Knopf
doyle@kansan.com
aknopf@kansan.com
Kansan staff writers
Students at the University of Kansas will be carrying a computer in their pockets after this semester.
The University's new smart card ID system will be provided by CyberMark, a company that has installed the systems at seven other colleges and universities. The cards will replace current KUIDs this fall.
Each new card will use a microchip to store its moneary value. The cards can be used at vending machines, copiers and other devices around campus, said Chris Corum, CyberMark director of systems marketing.
"It will open up a new realm of ideas for student accounts," Corum said. "It will give a whole slew of possibilities."
The microchips can replace most cash transactions, Corum said. Colleges and universities with as many as 50,000 identification cards are using the CyberMark system.
At the University of Toronto, the cards are used
extensively in the library, said Alfred Cheng, director of finance and administration for the library. The cards are used with copiers, laser printers, vending machines and at the library's food court. The university used the library as a pilot program because the campus was too large to roll the program out to all at once. Cheng said.
He said the transition from the library's old card system was accomplished quickly and relatively painlessly.
"We did it in record time — three and one-half months," Cheng said. "CyberMark seems to have a product that's proven."
Salbaum said that the transition had gone smoothly, but there were a few problems. Problems included
The cards also are used by smaller schools. At Gullford College, Greensboro, N.C., the cards play a large role, said Dan Salbaum, director of management systems.
Guilford incorporated the cards into a $5 million technical overhaul. Its card program, which cost $100,000, provides services ranging from keyless residence hall access to debit cards.
To institute the system at the University, new cards would be issued for all students. The process would take no more time than getting a standard KUID, Corum said. A digital photo of the holder would be taken and printed directly on the card. The chip then would be activated via a link to CipherMark.
"Our cards are printed and primed through Internet access," said Christina Curtis, director of career and counseling service at Ohio Dominican College, Columbus Ohio. "When the servers are down in Florida, we can't prime the cards."
laundry machines, which required a complicated procedure to wash and dry clothes with the card. Students also expressed privacy concerns as their card transactions registered on the college's system, Salbaum said.
A magnetic strip on the card can store a student's name, identification number and other information and secure access to residence halls, ATMs, dining halls, sporting events and libraries.
Cash value is added to the card by putting cash into a cash-to-card machine. Cash value also can be added by using an ATM or credit card to transfer funds directly to the smart card.