CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
3
Thursday, January 21, 1993
GTAs to receive salary increase
By Dan England
Kansan staff writer
Source KU graduate teaching assistants are upset that a raise is not included in Gov. Juan Finney's state budget proposals.
Gov. Finney proposed a 8 percent salary increase for KU faculty, but it did not include an increase for GTAs.
However, GTAs will receive an increase equal to the faculty raise next year; despite the fact that the budget proposals did not mention them, said Howard Mossberg, dean of graduate studies.
But Dave Reedy, GTA in philosophy, saith
he still was concerned about GTAs investing an increase.
"Given the way the administration has classified us as staff," and given that it is very hard to get any money out of the Legislature for KI, yeah. I'm worried." Ready said. "It's just unfortunate that we're not named."
GTAs are categorized as classified staff by the University. Faculty members have their own classification.
An explicit statement about GTAs is not necessary for them to receive an increase, said Ed Mielen, executive vice chancellor.
"Salary increases for GTAs are usually tixed in with faculty raises," he said.
Kate Chatman, GT&A senior instructor in Western Civilization, said that she was grateful for any increases and that she appreciated the administration's effort.
But even with the eventual 3 percent increase GTAs will receive, Chatman said it would not make a difference in her small paycheck.
"I've had an increase every year," Chattman said, "and it's about enough to buy myself a case of Coke."
Dan Murtaugh, an English GTA, said several GTAs have had to take second jobs to pay bills. Reidy said he knew six GTAs out of the 20 in his department who worked for extra money.
"When you make $5,000 a year, an extra
$4,000 is a lot of money." he said.
"I myself have taken a second job," Reidy said.
Reedy said GTAs had written in scientific journals or even waved tables.
Both KU faculty and GTAs make S8-88 percent of the salaries at peer institutions, Reidy said. "At least we are suffering with them," he said.
Students play games with accounting
Business class made more fun with Monopoly
By Temilyn McCormick
Kansan staff writer
Go to jail! Go directly to jail! Do not pass
Go! Do not collect $200!
Some students in a School of Business financial accounting class are spending part of their Fridays getting themselves out of jail.
Monopoly jail, that is.
As part of Business 240 students played the popular board game during their last Friday discussion section to learn accounting in a more exciting atmosphere, said Tim Shafel, an associate professor of business who teaches the lecture part of the class. The students will continue the game in their next two Friday discussion sections.
"Accounting gets pretty sterile." Shaffel said. "You are given a bunch of numbers and told to do this and that with them."
The students will be playing standard Monopoly as if they were an individual company. They will keep track of what transactions they make, just like an accountant would.
After they have played several times, they will prepare a financial statement and do 'radio analysis', comparing the results of their "companies" with others.
Marci Flanery, coordinator of the discussion sections for the class, said another benefit of the project was allowing students to become acquainted with other students and to gain experience working in a
group
"At the University, students tend to work alone, but when they are in the real business world they will be expected to work with others in a group setting." Flanery said.
The only difference from standard Monopoly is that the original Chance and Community Chest cards have been replaced with cards that give the students a more realistic picture of accounting transactions.
Danielle Swadley-Rissman. Lawrence
Junior picked up her Chance card last
Friday and found she had to pay a $15 professional licensing fee.
"The game and the cards correspond with the different terms that we've heard so far in class," she said. "I think this helps us learn it a little quicker than usual."
Swadley-Rissman the teammates, Howard Fowler, Lawrence sophomore, and Brad Supernaw, Jennings junior, took a cothreat approach as they made deals with one another to benefit their companies' standings.
Robert Knechel, a professor at the University of Florida, created the adapted version of the game. The game also includes a booklet in which the accounting students can keep track of their transactions.
Kris Koeller, a teaching assistant and Lenexa senior, said the teaching staff hoped the game would help change the reputation of Business 240 as a boring, difficult class.
Doug Hesse / KANSAN
Sean Bateman. St. Charles, Mo., sophomore, reads a Chance card from a monopoly game during his Financial Accounting I discussion section. The accounting version of the game includes new Chance and Community Chest cards emphasizing real-life problems.
Panel refuses to allocate funds to women's lobby
Brett Riggs
Kansan staff writer
The Student Senate Finance Committee decided last night not to allocate money to help a newly registered women's political organization get off the ground.
KU's National Organization for Women / Women's Political Caucus requested $329, but its bill needed a two-thirds majority vote. It failed with a 7-7 tie.
Margaret Hu, president of the organization, said the group's goal was to lobby state representatives on issues concerning women.
"We will lobby for bills concerning issues such as pay equities and domestic violence," Hu said. "We want to help the women's movement."
Committee member Brian Poeshel objected to the bill, saying that the organization was partisan. He accused it of supporting certain politicians and parties because of its views on certain issues. Poeshel cited Senate Rules and Regulations, which states that Senate will not fund any partisan group.
A partisan group is defined in the Senate Rules and Regulations as "that which directly affects the electoral goals of a particular person or group of people relative to another."
He said that the organization advocated no particular party and had no partisan base.
"We lobby for bills whether they are submitted by Democrats, Republicans or any other party." Hu said. "We are interested in the issues."
Nunemaker Senator Eric Medill said that he did not think the organization was advocating for anyone in particular.
"They don't care who writes the bill, they just care about what the bill is about," Medill said.
In another ruling, the committee overwhelmingly approved a bill to bring two speakers to campus for the Asian-American Festival, which is sponsored by the Asian-American Student Union.
The group requested $5,000 to bring Ken Kashiwara, an ABC word news correspondent, and Elaine Kim, a renowned Asian-American professor at the University of California Berkeley.
Lori-Lin Robinson, president of the Asian-American Student Union, said that Kim recently completed a project exposing the effects of the Los Angeles riots on Korean-American female business owners in central Los Angeles.
"I am very excited that it passed." Robinson said. "We would like to have this message reach the Midwest."
Student group focuses on ozone
Environs spotlights layer's depletion with radiation suits
By Vicki Bode
Kansan staff writer
Environs members wore radiation suits at an information table in the Union yesterday, where the suits could be purchased for $5.
Instead of packing sun-protection lotion for a trip to the beach, soon people may be packing radiation suits because of ozone depletion.
"We are telling people 'one day you may need one of these suits.'" said Chris Foster, an Envirocon member who was working at the table. "It may save people the cost of hospital bills in the future."
Foster said the group wore the radiation suits to attract the attention of students and get them interested in the ozone depletion problem. Pamphlets on ozone depletion
were available at the table.
"Our main goal is to let people know what's going on and give them access to information about it," he said. "Being informed and caring is the most important stem."
Students had mixed reactions to the ozone table.
"It is the most immediate and critical environmental issue," said John Clark, environmental studies professor. He that said in ten years it was possible radiation suits would be necessary and that informing people of
"I think the radiation suits may be a little extreme, but it is important," said Jeni Weinberg. Lawrence freshman. "People may laugh now, but they won't be laughing a few years down the road."
Jason Goff, Shawnee freshman, said he did not think the ozone problem was as serious as Environs claims.
However, environmentalists agree the threat is real.
"I think wearing those suits is pretty cheesy," Geff said. "It is just a scare tactic."
the danger was important.
"Who cares if wearing the suits scares people?" Clark said. "People should be scared. People don't read the newspapers or listen to the news. They just wander around aimlessly."
Clark said people could prevent ozone depletion by driving as little as possible and not dry cleaning all their clothing. Dry cleaning releases chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere, which damages the ozone layer.
Sue Ask, associate environmental ombudsman, also said the ozone-depletion issue was an important one.
Environs plans to have the ozone table in the Union every Wednesday until the semester ends.
"It won't only affect humans." Ask said. "The issue isn't only skin cancer. It will affect all kinds of organisms and climate changes. I'm not sure how effective $5 suits will be, because it isn't known how hazardous it really is," she said.
Rachel G. Thompson / KANSAN
KU Environments Chris Foster, Los Gatos, Calif., graduate student, wears his radiation suit to raise public awareness of ozone depletion. Environns sold the suits yesterday in the Kansas Union