TAX TIME
The deadline for filing federal income tax returns is midnight.
VOTE TODAY for Student Senate must have KUID
RAIN
TIMES
The polls are open from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
RAIN
The Watson
Library location
will close in
the event of rain
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.102.NO.138
VOL. 102, NO. 138
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA K 66612
THURSDAY, APRIL 15. 1993
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
Anonymous flier riles two Senate coalitions
A.C.T.I.O.N..!, UNITE allege dirty politics
By Brett Riggs
Kansan staff writer
An anonymous flier distributed on campus yesterday has members of the A.C.T.I.O.N.!! and UNITE coalitions accusing each other of dirty politics.
Diane King, Student Senate election commissioner, confirmed that an A.C.T.I.O.N!! coalition member had turned in a formal complaint alleging that a UNITE coalition member had distributed fliers containing slanderous information about Jason McIntosh. A.C.T.I.O.N!! presidential candidate to students.
Nothing on the flies indicated who authorized or printed them.
King said that she could not verify the complaint because she had not seen the alleged violation take place.
The fliers accused McIntosh of misconduct in previous Senate elections and of making misleading campaign promises in this year's election.
In 1990, McIntosh was elected as a senatoral candidate with the YOU
coalition. He was the losing presidential candidate for the FACTS coalition in 1991 and won a Senate seat last year with the VISION coalition.
McIntosh said that the allegations on the fliers were false and that UNITE was using it as a desperate campaign tactic.
"These are lies they want people to believe." McIntosh said.
McNittosh, who said he was considering legal action, said he was certain that members of the UNITE coalition distributed the fliers but that he did not know who printed the fliers.
"Obviously the person who compiled it didn't have enough faith or credibility to put their name on it," he said.
"They are completely and totally unfounded," Shoemaker said. "There are zero facts about this allegation."
John Shoemaker, UNITE presidential candidate, denied the allegation and said he was certain no member of his coalition distributed the filers.
Shoemaker said that he thought A.C.T.I.O.N.!" and McIntosh were using the complaint as a campaign tactic.
"It is irresponsible for them to accuse us," the Shoemaker said. "I think he is slinging mud without any regard for the truth."
Chris Bailey, co-head of the election commission, said the complaint
would be heard by the election commission hearing board after the election. He said the burden of proof would be on the accuser.
The complaint, if validated by the election commission, would fall under the category of major complaints. It is the only major complaint filed in this election.
If the election commission finds the complaint to be a violation, it could be punishable by a $50-per-candidate fine, disqualification or dismissal from office.
As of Tuesday, 145 complaints had been filed and 109 had been verified. The other complaints are classified as minor violations and primarily concern the placement of posters.
Ed Austin, FOCUS presidential candidate, said that his coalition was not involved in the distribution of the fliers and that he was discouraged by the negative campaigning of the other two coalitions.
"I believe UNITE and A.C.T.I.O.N.!! have gotten involved in mudbling that is taking away from the election," Austin said.
Bernard Cox, UNGANISHA presidential candidate, said that he had not heard about the fliers and that he was upset about the conduct in the election.
"It has been really sad watching people bicker back and forth." Cox said.
2,100 votes cast first day
Rain plays role in low turnout
By Brett Riggs Kansan staff writer
The turnout was close to last year's first day, when 2,038 students voted.
Pollster Paul Birkholz, left, Sheridan, Wyo., freshman, gathers ballots for Matt Jansen, Overland Park junior, far right, as Lisa Mott, Agra senior, prepares to vote in the Strong Hall rotunda.
Despite rain and cold weather, about 2.100 students voted yesterday on the first day of the Student Senate election.
Diane King, election commissioner, said that she thought more students would have voted if not for the bad polls. But the better was better on last year's first day.
Chris Bailey, co-chairperson of the election commission, said that election workers had prepared for rain and that improving voter turnout was a goal for the election commission.
"If it is chilly, people don't want to stand in line. They sidle. Weather conditions are bad."
Bailey said that the polling table in front of Watson Library was not set up because of the rain. Workers from the Watson location helped poll workers in front of Wescoe Hall.
Aaron Bainhey, Parsons sophomore, said that the rain did not prevent him from voting and that he thought more students should vote.
"I don't think it is right to complain if you don't vote," Bahney said.
"If you are going to go to school here it is your duty to vote." Glaze said.
Damian Glaze, Chapman freshman, said that he thought that Senate could affect students and campus and that it would be a chance for him to voice his opinion.
Strong Hall poll worker, said she thought Wescosce Hall was the busiest voting location. She said she thought it was the best because the voting table was inside.
Today is the final day for voting. Poll tables are open at the Burge Union, Strong Hall, Wescoe Hall, the Kansas Union, Watson Library and Haworth Hall from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Maria Tilford, Wichita junior and
The four-year fallacy
Source: KU Office of Institutional Research and Planning
Dave Campbell / KANSAN
Four years is not enough to graduate for some
By Dan Englanu Kansan staff writer
Only one student in four walks down the Hill with a degree after eight semesters. Only half of them will make it in six years. In fact, the four-year degree may be one of the greatest myths in higher education at a public university.
Students who want to graduate from the University of Kansas in four years are in for a struggle.
With an enrollment of 27,589 this spring, there is limited classroom space available, and some students simply cannot get the classes they need.
Students have to battle current problems lil' a poor economy and the quality of academic advising, University officials say. They also have to face things like closed classes and added hours when they change their majors, things that have been preventing students from graduating on time for more than 20 years, officials say.
KU is not the only university with a low four-year graduation rate. Students nationwide require an average of 5.2 years to graduate, according to the 1992-93 ACT Workshop. And the five-year programs at KU do bring the four-year graduation rate down a little bit, but much.
And for some students, finishing on time means finishing in five years. The School of Education and Computing faculty both have five-year programs.
In fact, the schools with five-year
programs — education, engineering and architecture — have a total enrollment of 5,338. That means that more than 20,000 students are in four-year programs and that quite a few of them are having problems graduating on time. (Courtesy of the University)
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One thing students can not anything about — the economy — is causing them to finish later than ever before. Ra Willis, secretary for the School of Social Welfare also advises students for most of every day, said she had seen a lot of students who could not take full course loads because they had to work.
Ten years ago, students would work so they could afford to have a good time. Today, more students are working to survive.
"We're not talking about beer money," Willits said. "These students have got to eat and bill taxes."
The University can do something about another common community, poor academic advising, and has, in fact, recently addressed the issue.
The University Senate Executive Committee formed a task force on March 4 that is charged with studying the quality of KU's advising to students.
Joe VanZandt, a member of the National Academic Advising Association, put together a committee made up of non-faculty advisers and a faculty representative. One of the committee's jobs is to improve relations between staff and faculty
"There a lot of people who do advising that tend to be isolated from the faculty," VanZandt said. "We need to talk to each other more than we do."
At its Jan. 26 meeting, the committee reviewed student and parent comments about advising during this summer's orientation. Of the 27 parent comments and the 50 student comments, almost all were negative.
Many of the students said that their adviser either gave them the wrong information, didn't know the information they needed or tried to rush the process to the point where they were not any help at all. Some student comments were:
"I was advised by a girl who didn't have an idea about what I needed."
"I didn't get much feedback or help."
■ "My particular adviser was very interested in my future and seemed anxious to just shuffle me along."
Parents were generally more positive, although they did express concern about how little advisers actually knew:
■ "My daughter was misadvised during registration and was placed in classes for a fine arts major when she is a science major."
"You need more attention spent on students."
"My student did not have enough information to properly enroll."
VanZandt says he hears those
Story continues, Page 5.
Professor excited to serve as mayor
Bright night lights
Amateur astronomers do not need to invest in top dollar telescopes to enjoy the summer skies. All they need to do is look up.
See story. Page 7.
By Todd Selfert
Mayor John Nalbandian sat at his desk in 318 Blake Hall yesterday afternoon talking on the phone with yet another person who wanted to share his concerns on city business.
By 2:30 p.m., Nalbandian, an associate professor of public administration at the University of Kansas, had spoken on the telephone or met with five people who wanted to lobby their new mayor.
Kansan staff writer
The Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to select Nalbandian as its mayor Tuesday.
As a commissioner elected to a four-year term, Nalbandian had expected that at some time he would assume the extra responsibilities of presiding over the commission's meetings and acting as the group's spokesperson.
Nalbandian, a KU instructor since
"My biggest concern is making sure that my teaching responsibilities don't suffer," he said. "One of the easiest things to do would be to slough off in preparing for classes. I can put my research off for a while, but teaching is my primary job."
1976, said the busier schedule that accompanied the title of mayor would not compromise his duties at the University.
Nalbandian teaches two classes each semester. This spring, he is teaching an undergraduate political science course and a graduate level public administration course.
Bob Schulte, a city commissioner who served as mayor before Nalbandian, said his colleague's ability to lead was crucial to a valuable trait for a mayor to have.
"He has the ability to take a situation full of confusion and find the main or answer."
find a way to put them into a few words that help everyone else understand."
Shirley Martin-Smith, whose term as a commissioner expired Tuesday, said she thought Nabandian would do a great job as mayor.
"That's why I ran for election," he said. "I like having some degree of involvement, having some influence.
"When it comes right down to it, John has a common sense approach to things," she said. "When people have a problem or a concern, they look to the mayor for help. Being mayor with all of those responsibilities is a tough job, but John has the talent of helping people get to the point that will help him do a good job." Nalandian welcomes the extra
"Ive always said that I'd rather be the trunk of the tree than the leaves fluttering in the wind."
John Nailbandian, right, honored outgoing mayor Boyd Schulte with a gift Tuesday night.