CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Wednesday, September 1, 1993
KU joins new lobbying group
Student Senate links up with larger schools
By Donella Hearne
Kansan staff writer
Student Senate decided last semester to discontinue its membership in the Board of Regents schools' lobbying group. The University of Kansas will now join Kansas State University, Wichita State University and Washburn University in hopes of creating better representation of students.
The group, Associated Students of Kansas, or ASK, formerly represented KU and other Kansas universities at the state legislature in Topeka. The organization included KU, K-State, Wichita State, Fort Hays State University, Emporia State University and Pittsburg State University.
The larger universities split off from the others
because of conflicting interests. One of the issues cited by student lobby directors was qualified admissions.
Alan Tikwart, co-director of KU's student lobby group, said the schools did not see eye to eye on many important issues.
"We have our own interests," he said. "One example is qualified admissions. We'd like to see it happen, and they're scared to death of it."
Qualified admissions deals with proposed standards for students who live in Kansas and wish to enroll at a state university. All Kansas state universities have an open admissions policy, which requires students to have only a diploma from a Kansas high school to be admitted.
By breaking off from ASK, KU will be able to have more student representatives than the past, said Beniv Schwartz, co-director of KU's lobby group.
In the past, universities involved with ASK paid a lobby staff, usually one lobbyist and an assistant, to stay in Topeka and represent the university in legislative actions.
Michael Henry, K.State's lobby director, said lack of representation of student concerns was one of the reasons K-State decided to break away from ASK.
mstead of tackling legislative, state issues, we want to address generational issues." Henry said. Lowering the drinking age to 18 years is one of the issues Henry wants to address this year.
On Sept. 10 the four schools will meet to create a constitution for the new lobby group and discuss the group's main objectives. Blake Fry, student lobby director at Wichita State, said he was impressed by cooperation in the group so far and felt encouraged.
Joe Peterson, campus director for ASK at Pittsburg State, is not as enthusiastic about the new group. Because Pittsburgh State is still a member of ASK, Peterson said he thought the organization's lobbying power would be reduced by the loss of the larger schools' influence.
Detour forces locals to tolerate traffic
By Traci Carl
Kansan staff writer
Second Street hole soon to be repaired
Lawrence resident Richard Demby stood at the end of his driveway on Lincoln Street, a two-lane residential road lined with trees, and watched a line of traffic zoom by Tuesday morning.
Demby and other North Lawrence residents have had to deal with congested traffic ever since a hole in the northbound lane of North Second Street caused traffic to be re-route along Elm. Third and Lincoln streets.
But Tom Orzulak, assistant director of public works, said the detour would not be needed any longer when two lanes of the street open for Labor Day weekend.
After the weekend, northbound traffic will follow the detour again. Orzulak said. Two-lane traffic will be opened each weekend, if possible he said.
"We're shooting to have it ready to go by Thursday," Orzulak said. "The problem right now is we are pumping out ground water."
Roger Kuker, owner of Roger's Food Center, 608 N. Second St., said business was down about 25 percent because of the detour.
"We're to the point now where
The hole was discovered June 3 after a storm and sewer drainage pipe collapsed from flooding and washed away the soil under the road. The hole now is about 15 feet wide, 50 feet long and 20 feet deep. Orzulak said.
we're suffering." Kuker said.
With the storm and sewer pipe broken, the challenge has been to fix the pipe and pump out water around the pipe at the same time, he said.
Three wells are pumping water to lower the water content of the soil, Orzulak said, and more wells may be added next week.
LRM industries, the contractor in charge of repairing the hole and replacing the pipe, finished pumping out water north of the hole last Wednesday. Orzulza said. Now they are working on keeping water away from the broken pipe and the hole.
Before the hole can be repaired, the broken pipe must be replaced, Orzulak said.
The rest of the pipe from Elm to Locust streets will be replaced, he said, but it will be re-routed from its old position.
Kucker said daily traffic jams at 5 p.m. from the detour had caused regular customers to find another way home.
Orzulak said he didn't know when the road would be back to normal.
"There's just been one problem after another," he said. "I could talk about it for hours."
The city has almost finished work on a damaged storm and sewer drainage pipe on North Second Street. The construction has congested traffic there.
Hispanic Enrollment at KU
The percentage of Hispanic students at KU has been increasing the last five years.
Dave Campbell / KANSAN
Source University Profiles
HALO searches for funds for trip
Attending leadership conference aids in recruiting Hispanic students to KU
By Carlos Tejada
Kansan staff writer
Octavio Hinojosa, president of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, remembered when he met then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton.
Hinojosa, Hutchinson senior, attended the United States Hispanic Leadership Conference in Chicago in 1991. He said in addition to meeting Clinton, he met Hispanic business and government leaders from around the country.
But the real benefit was seeing an estimated 3,000 Hispanic college students. Hinoiosa said.
"It is by far the largest Hispanic conference in the northwest and northeast," he said. "You get to meet so many individual, quality students."
But this year a trip to the conference, scheduled for Oct. 29-31, is in doubt, he said. HALO has yet to raise most of the money.
Hinjoosa said the trip was important to attract Hispanics to KU. Although the University's percentage of Hispanic students has risen steadily since the early '80s, its 1.8 percent is well below the national population of Hispanics. According to the 1990 census, Hispanics make up 9 percent of the nation's population of about 250 million.
The Office of Minority Affairs has pledged $700, Hinojosa said. A bill before the Student Senate would give participants an additional $350 if it were to pass.
But Hinojima said the group planned to send about 30 students at an estimated total cost of $1,950.
He said the group thought the cost was necessary for such a unifying event.
"It was like a rebirth," Hinojosa said of the 1991 conference.
The group also wanted a representative from the Office of Admissions to accompany them. Hinojosa said he was disappointed when the office turned down the request over the summer.
"Ifeels incomplete," he said. "We go out there to represent this University in a positive way, and I wish we could have support from this office, too."
Such support is unlikely, said Deborah Castrop, director of undergraduate admissions. She said the budget for the admissions office was too tight, and HALO's request on June 2 was after the office had made out its budget for fiscal year 1994.
"Unfortunately, we did not have enough flexibility to send somebody," she said.
Castrop said it was possible that a previously planned program would be canceled and free up money, but she said the chances were unlikely. But she said that she hoped the office could help in the future.
Eladio Valdez, former president of HALO and former Office of Admissions representative, said the group could get by without an admissions office representative. He said the students were a better advertisement.
"This is a prime example where HALO could go up to the Office of Admissions and get to work themselves," said Valdez, Kansas City, Kan. senior.
'Fun runs' to begin Saturday
Kansan staff report
Saturday morning free "fun runs" will take place the days of each home football game this fall, said Tim Willett, graduate assistant for intramurals in recreation services.
KU Recreation Services is sponsoring a new activity this fall for those from the University who enjoy running.
Writing center adjusts to budget crunch
initiation of tide recession in Texas
Willet said the 2-mile mile
would begin at 9 a.m. at the Shenk
Complex at 23rd and Iowa streets,
proceed through West Campus
and return to the complex. The run
is open to KU students, faculty and staff.
Competitors can purchase $5 commemorative T-shirts.
Willett said themes for each run would be related to the mascot of the visiting football team. The theme for this Saturday is "Cataumont Crawl," which refers to the Western Carolina team mascot.
Willett said participants could register for each run in advance at the recreation services office, 208 Robinson, or at the complex on the day of the run.
By Kathleen Stolle Kansan staff writer
Growing popularity coupled with a limited budget spelled change for the KU writing center this semester.
But the center's director, Jim Hartman, said an adjustment for the program was actually an improvement.
"In the long run, the students are going to benefit," Hartman said.
Unlike the tutors, who typically worked one-on-
At the end of last semester, the center eliminated two undergraduate tutor positions when those students graduated. This semester the center hired a graduate student to act as its campus liaison.
one with students, the liaison meets with an entire class about a specific topic, such as research-paper writing. The liaison, who is requested by an instructor, is also available to meet with smaller groups or individuals.
"We thought hiring a graduate student would allow us to deal with higher level courses," he said.
The liaison, the sixth member of the center's staff, is available to instructors in the humanities, social sciences and fine arts departments. Hartman said the center would re-evaluate the new position at the end of the academic year.
Although the center's budget has nearly doubled since 1885, the center's first year in existence, increasing popularity is taxing the center's resources.
During that first year, only two or three departments used the service, said Pat McQueeney, associate director. Last spring more than 100 instructors from nearly 20 programs asked for assistance from the center, she said.
Despite the high demand, Brower Burchill, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said he did not think the University could give the center any more money.
"Considering the funding the future does not book good," Burchell said.
He said that the center was the University's "pride and joy." However, private entities or other University programs would probably be the only possible sources of additional funding for the center in the near future.
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