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SPORTS: Guard Terry Evans leads the Oklahoma Sooners to victory against the No. 6-ranked Kansas men's basketball team, Page 9.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.102,NO.103
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18. 1993
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
NEWS:864-4810
Clinton addresses Congress
President defends tax increase offers student loan program
By Brady Prauser Kansan staff writer
President Clinton said in his economic address to Congress last night that unpopular tax hikes and federal program cuts were necessary to stimulate investment and reduce the national debt.
"Unless we change, unless we increase investment and reduce the debt to raise productivity so that we can generate both jobs and incomes, we will be condemning our children and our children's children to a lesser life than we enjoyed." Clinton said in his address to a joint session of Congress.
Clinton, often referring to statistics about the magnitude of the debt, outlined an economic program that includes the second-largest tax increase
in U.S. history.
But he conceded that it would not be easy. Clinton asked Congress to cooperate with the economic plan.
"I ask you all to begin by resisting the temptation to focus only on a particular spending cut you don't like or some particular investment that wasn't made," he said. "And nobody likes the tax increases, but let's just face the facts."
"For 20 years, through administrations of both parties, incomes have stalled and debt has exploded and productivity has not grown as it should. We cannot deny the reality of our condition. We have got to play the hand we were dealt and play it as best we can."
Clinton discussed a national student loan program through which students would have the option of paying back their college loans by "giving something back to their country — as teachers or police officers or community service workers."
Student reaction at KU to Clinton's proposed student loan policy varied with the respondent.
"I would love to pay off my student loans in some sort of federal work program, some sort of street-cleaning type thing," said Travis Harrod, Topeka senior.
"It's a noble idea, but where are you going to get the money to train these students after they leave school?" Shore said.
But Andy Shore, Glencoe, Ill., senior, did not share Harrod's optimism about Clinton's proposed student loan program.
Allan Cigler, professor of political science, said, "His budget reflects not what he would like to do, but the best he thinks he can do in the current Washington environment. It reflects an honest attempt to confront the difficult competing problems of getting people into the work force and at the same time reducing the budget. The problem is what is politically possible."
Knight-Ridder Tribune
President Clinton addresses a joint session of Congress while Vice President Al Gore and Speaker of the House Tom Foley, D-wash., listen.
Flames of hope for Bosnia
Dawn Jakubowski, a graduate teaching assistant in philosophy, lights candles in the Kansas Union Ballroom during a vigil recognizing the plight of Bosnian rape camp victims. More than 50 people attended the vigil last night.
SenEx returns hate-speech revisions to committee
By Todd Selfert
Kansan staff writer
The University Senate Executive Committee voted yesterday to send a statement discouraging insulting speech and offensive behavior back to the Human Relations Committee for revisions.
SenEx members decided not to send the statement to the University Council because of their concerns with its wording
Jean Peterson, chair of the committee, said yesterday that the group drafted the statement with the goal of reducing tensions that resulted from hateful speech.
"The only way to combat hateful speech is by opening more dialogue between people so that the people making the statements or telling the offensive jokes know that the things they are saying are offensive," she said. "The purpose of this statement is not to create policy at the University. We just want people to realize that hate messages and behaviors directed towards people based on their race, gender or religion may be offensive."
According to the statement, "Each of us has an important responsibility not only to refrain from hateful/harmful speech but also to engage others in appropriate dialogue about the disrespect and harm that this speech causes whenever we perceive other persons to have employed hateful or harmful speech."
Lynn Nelson, professor of history, said that he agreed with the statement's goals but that he wanted to ensure that its wording did not infringe upon freedom of speech.
"There are some terms that need to be clarified," he said.
Nelson said that the term "dialogue" needed to be defined to avoid confusion between a formal process and simple conversation.
University Council and SenEx take great care in the wording of these types of statements," he said. "They don't want to leave it open for misinterpretation."
SenExent a similar statement to University Council last year. That proposal was defeated.
Peterson said the committee would draft a new statement and send the revised version to SenEx for approval after its March 12 meeting.
Robert Thompson, Shawnee senior, said that he was concerned that people not take the statement as KU policy.
Senate bill to create 40 fellowships
By Ben Grove
Kansan staff writer
One of the three education bills pitched to a Kansas Senate committee yesterday is aimed at increasing the number of minority graduate students at Kansas colleges and universities.
The bill would create 40 minority graduate student fellowships of $8,000 each. Sixteen of the fellowships would be awarded to KU students.
Ted Ayers, Board of Regents director of governmental relations, told the Education Committee that minority enrollments in graduate programs were low and declining. He said that although African Americans made up 12 percent of the U.S. population, they received only about 5 percent of doctoral degrees awarded annually.
"These observations, true for Kansas and the nation, appear to indicate that the increased participation of minorities in graduate education is a process which has sadly derailed," he said.
The bill would require students who receive the fellowships to work in Kansas colleges and universities after they graduate for the same number of years that they received the fellowships.
Ayers and several college and university representatives also discussed a bill that would create a $2.3 million grant program for students in Regents schools.
The grant money would be distributed on a need basis.
He said after the meeting that ever-increasing education costs had created a need for such a program. No similar Regents tuition grant programs had been created in the past because Regents schools received state tax money and already offered many other scholarship programs, he said.
The money would come from 2 percent of a planned 8 percent tuition increase for students at the Regents universities, Ayers said.
The Regents grant program would parallel a tuition grant program that does out $5.5 million to 17 private colleges in Kansas. Ayers said the Legislature had decided to offer money to finance the private school program as a way to close the tuition gap between private schools and the Regents institutions.
The third bill Ayers outlined would allow some needy students to receive grant money earlier in the semester.
The Board of Regents now sends each school a check and a list of names of needy, eligible students. However, if some of those students do not enroll, their share of the check must be returned to the Regents. The Regents can then pass the money on to needy students who are next in line. But by then, those students may have waited for several months for grant money.
The bill requires that the board simply send each school a check to be distributed to needy students without having to send any money back to the Regents.
The amount of each school's check would be the average of the school's checks from the past three years.
Ayers said the Education Committee could consider the three bills next week.
Event aims to unite African-American students
Inspired voices
As part of African-American history month, KU's gospel choir, the Inspirational Gospel Voices, will sing in the Gospel Extravaganza at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vermont St.
See story. Page 7.
By Jess DeHaven Kansan staff writer
A conference designed to bring together African-American students from the Big Eight universities will open today in the Kansas Union.
"It's In Our Hands: Shaping Our Community Through Campus Involvement" is the theme of the 16th Annual Big Eight Conference on Black Student Government. Opening ceremonies will be held from 8 to 10 tonight in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
About 700 people from the Big Eight universities and regional schools will attend the event, which will feature keynote speakers, workshops and entertainment. The conference was last held at the University in 1985.
Norma Norman, associate director of minority affairs, said that the goal of the conference was a simple one.
*We want to bring together African-
American representatives from each of the Big Eight schools and other regional colleges to discuss the problems and issues that affect them at predominately white colleges," she said. "The theme will be played out through the wide group of scholars and activities that touch the African-American community."
James Baucom, Topeka senior and president of Black Student Union, said the conference served several other important purposes.
"The conference helps to teach us leadership skills," Baucom said. "It's a chance for us to come together and come to a consensus and make plans to attack issues and problems that affect us. It's also important because many African-American students feel that they are the only people struggling and it is uplifting out find out there are others like them out there."
Some of the other activities are
A career fair from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Friday
on the sixth floor of the Kansas Union.
A Gospel Extravaganza at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vermouth.
A Greek step show competition at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Coffin Sports Complex on the campus of Haskell Indian Junior College. The step show will be preceded by a welcoming drum dance ceremony from Haskell students. Tickets are $10.
See related story, Page 14.
Sanchez will speak at the opening ceremonies at 8 tonight in the ballroom.
**Keynote speakers at the conference will include Sonia Sanchez, a teacher, poet and playwright from Temple University; Yelena Khanga, Russian author of "Soul to Soul," an autobiography of her family; Leonard Jeffries, professor of Black studies, City College of New York; Vernell Sturm, director of the Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport; and Jail Hare, professor at San Francisco State University.
Feb.18 - Feb.20
Big Night Conference on Black Student Government:
Visit the University of Missouri Our Community Through Campus Involvement. *Events will focus on issues confronting African-American students to register, contact Conference and Programs at 864-3284.
Today's events
**Lecture:** "The Black Male in American Literature." Professor Bill Andrews will present a colloquium sponsored by the University of Chicago in 4019 Wescoe Hall. Contact Carolyn Doty@864-323-353.