UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, March 4, 1994
7
Kyrgyzstan to get donations from KU living organizations
By Ashley Schultz
Kansan staff writer
More than a Band-Aid will be required to fix the medical system in one republic of the former Soviet Union. But Band-Aids are a start.
KU organized living groups have joined the University of Kansas Medical Center and Heart to Heart International, an Olathe-based relief agency, in efforts to collect medical supplies and books for the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in central Asia.
Members of greek houses will set boxes in their lobbies Monday for donations. Residence hall residents plan to set out boxes today. Scholarship halls set boxes on March 1.
The republic needs even the most basic supplies, said Jeff Weinberg, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. Weinberg is coordinating student efforts of the drive.
Items needed
The Association of University Residence Halls will present a check for $500 to Chancellor Gene Budig near the drive, on the drive, Ken Martin, vice president of the association. A Kansas City company pledged to match the donation with $10 for every $1 donated by the association.
These are some of the over-the-
counter items being collected for
the Republic of Kyrgyzstan:
Aspirin, acetaminophen and
ibuprofen
Cold and cough preparations
Antihistamines, allergy medicines
Antacids
Antibiotic ointments
Asthma medications
Baby and diaper rash products
Cleaning agents, soaps, shampoo
Bandages and gauze
The check was, in part, response to the association's concern that students would have a difficult time donating so close to Spring Break, Martin said.
KANSAN
"I'm hoping that the people of the sororites and fraternities recognize how important it is that we help Kyrgzstan out," said Mark Galus, vice president for public relations for the Interfraternity Council.
More information about the airlift will be available at a table March 14-16 in the Kansas Union, Winter said. Students would be able to drop off 'items from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., he said.
Amy Solt / KANSAN
The collection ends March 31.
Spring fling
Andree DeBauge, Emporia sophomore, plays Frisbee in front of Strong Hall. The day's high of 78 degrees brought many students out in T-shirts and shorts.
State welfare reform gets wide support
By Stephen Martino Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA — Sparked by tight budgets and changing views about families, bipartisan support for welfare reform has grown in the House of Representatives.
State Reps. Jim Garner, D-Coffeyville, and Phil Kline, R-Shawnee, have proposed legislation that they ay would reduce the number of people on the rolls — and, Kline said, encourage responsibility from those who receive public assistance.
"Existing state policy, as written, has encouraged the breakups of families and children having children," Kline said. "Our current system of welfare sends people down a spiraling road of dependency."
However, State Rep. Forrest Swall,
D-Lawrence, said the best welfare
reform the Legislature could address would be to create jobs. He said most people on welfare wanted to work but that the jobs were not available.
"In the name of the budget, we are cutting some very basic, vital services," Swall said. "This is just feelgood political rhetoric."
Garner and Kline said the legislation would help prevent the breakup of families on welfare and would make them less dependent on the system itself. The bill has 77 co-sponsors in the House, and 63 votes are needed for passage.
A key point of the bill is the elimination of a marriage penalty, Kline said. The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services requires that people who file for family assistance report work histories, sometimes as long as three years previous. Teenagers often have no work history to
provide, so they are not able to qualify for benefits as a family.
Kline said teen-age men often left so that mothers and children, who don't need to provide work histories by themselves, could receive benefits.
"The state is encouraging the breakup of families," he said. "We are making it possible for families to stay together. This will help people, especially women and children, get out of welfare sooner."
Some of the bill's other proposals include making unwed minors with children live with their parents and not providing Aid to Families with Dependent Children unless the identities of both parents are known. Hardship exemptions are allowed in both cases.
Kline said the two greatest factors that put people on welfare and kept them there were teen-age pregnancies and absent fathers.
"There are courageous single parents who are doing a wonderful job," he said. "But we have to get fathers back into the picture."
A similar piece of legislation, sponsored by the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, also is being considered.
"There is a lot of agreement," said Tim Hoyt, public information director for the department. "We have worked directly with them in hopes that we coincide on most issues."
Swall said he was concerned that the Garner-Kline proposal contained too many measures to punish people.
"We would be a lot better off if we focused on providing jobs for people who want to work instead of obsessing over those who can work but don't want to," he said. "They are statistically insignificant."
Women's wages lag behind men's despite progress
Males still seen as main income earner
By Roberta Johnson
Kansan staff writer
Despite equal pay and civil rights laws, the average woman still makes less money than the average man.
Such statistics prompted a panel discussion sponsored by the Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy yesterday morning in 104 Green Hall. The panel — which included faculty from law schools across the nation and other legal experts — presented possible causes of women's poverty, which included lower wages, child care costs and sexual harassment.
Depending on race, women receive wages between 64 and 76 cents for each dollar that a white man earns for the same job, said Marion Crain, professor at the University of Toledo School of Law.
Crain said that many women are trapped in low-paying, traditionally women-dominated careers.
"Three-fifths of women work in jobs that are 75 percent female," she said.
Not only do women receive lower wages, Crain said, but they also receive fewer benefits because men still are seen as the primary money-makers of their families.
Crain said statistics debunked that image. One-fourth of women are the sole or primary source of family income, and another two-thirds of working women have husbands who earn less than $15,000 a year, she said.
Because of their lower incomes, women may have trouble affording child care, Crain said.
Child care often drains single-parental incomes, leaving many in poverty. Crain said that 25 percent of single mothers' incomes went to child care.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, passed by Congress last year, gives workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave.
Salary inequality
These groups earn the following cents on the dollar in comparison to every dollar a white male makes:
Source: Marian Crane, professor of law at the University of Toledo School of Law
but the 12 weeks without a paycheck is discriminatory, Crain said.
"The absence of pay continues the assumption that families depend on male revenue," Crain said. "Often they can't afford unpaid leave, and many have no health benefits."
Camille Hebert, associate professor at the Ohio State University College of Law, added another reason that women have lower incomes: sexual harassment.
"If they complain, they're ostracized by coworkers or fired," she said.
She also said that many women quit their jobs because of the harassment, which leaves them at an economic disadvantage.
Hebert said that sexual harassment occurred more often against minority groups and women in job-training programs or on probation.
"They're more likely to be economically vulnerable." Hebert said.
Antonio Moreno, Caracas,
Venezuela, senior, agreed with
Hebert.
"It depends on their education," he said. "You see more lower-educated people being sexually harassed."
ADVERTISE IN THE DAILY KANSAN FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS
OPEN HOUSE
Student, Staff, & Faculty
Saturday, March 5,1994 10a.m.-4p.m.
COMPLETELY FURNISHED RENTALS
*custom furnishings*
- designed for privacy
- energy efficient
- affordable rates
- *many built-ins
- private parking
- locally owned
- laundry facilities*
- close to campus
*locally managed
Ask about
- close to shopping
- on site managers*
- *pool*
- central a/c
*microwaves*
*available some locations
- Summit House 1105 Louisiana
- Coldwater Flats 413 W.14th
- Kentucky Place 13th & Kentucky
- Oread Townhomes Many Locations
Many Locations Many Floor Plans
MASTERCRAFT
842-4455