SPORTS: The women's basketball team plays Oklahoma tonight for No.1 in the Big Eight. Page 9.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.103.NO.84
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1994
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Council to vote on relationships policy
Administrators want stronger statement
By Stephen Martino Kansan staff writer
The possibility of dismissal will loom for University of Kansas instructors who involve themselves in consensual relations with students they have a power relationship with, according to a compromise worked out by the administration and University Senate Executive Committee.
The compromise will affect the Consensual Relationships Policy passed by University Council on Dec. 9.
The administration officially responded to the policy in a letter written by Ed Meyen, executive vice chancellor, on Jan. 12. He wrote that the administration agreed with the first four points of the policy as passed by Council, but that he wanted a more expansive fifth point which would incorporate a violation of Faculty Code of Conduct for instructors who fail to observe the policy.
"We remain convinced that it is in the best interest of students and the University to prohibit romantic or sexual relationships in those situations where a faculty member holds a power differential over the student," Meyen wrote. "The institution must keep in mind the potential for damaging litigation that may arise in the
absence of a strong policy on consenting relationships."
SenEx addressed the administration's proposed changes Wednesday and submitted a revised policy that will be voted on next Thursday at Council.
He said that although the administration would have preferred a stronger statement against consensual relations, they were taking what they could get.
The changes suggested by SenEx were acceptable to the administration, said David Shulenberger, vice chancellor for academic affairs.
"The University Council statement essentially advised against it, and our experience is such that we believe
Shulenberger said the policy passed by Council was probably going to be more acceptable to faculty than the one enacted by the administration in August.
that there needed to be a stronger statement," he said.
"Ithink what SenEx is going to take to Council next week narrows down this policy to a span that is as broad as the University's interest and no broader," he said.
Additionally, the administration expressed its desire not to have superior/subordinate staff relationships in the same light as those between faculty and students.
Sulenberger said that even though superior/subordinate relationships
were not desirable, they were different because superiors can be easily removed from direct decisions concerning the subordinate while a faculty member's professional relationship with a student was more detailed.
Debate started in earnest concerning faculty and student consensual relations with the dismissal hearings of former law school professor Emil Tonkovich. He was dismissed for having allegedly forced a female student to perform oral sex on him.
In September, the Special Task Force on the Consensual Relations Policy was formed and given charges from SenEx. Its conclusions, which were revealed Nov. 24, were in part,
the basis for the eventual policy considered by Council.
Shulenberger said that the policy was needed to provide clear-cut definitions of conduct for instructors. He said it was not intended to drive a stake between the administration and faculty.
"The ethical norm of faculty members not having relations with students is one that has been here for the long time," he said. "All we're trying to do is get that written into the code. For that reason, I think if Council passes it, it will be acceptable because it already is. We never thought that there was a great many violations, but there were some, and we know of one."
City seeks 24-hour homeless shelter
But facility could meet opposition, mayor says
By Cheryl Cadue Kansan staff writer
Joe waited all day for the Salvation Army homeless shelter, 946 New Hampshire St. to open.
"I didn't know what the homeless situation was," said Joe, who holds two part-time jobs but who still cannot afford housing. "I've learned a lot about survival. It's not a piece of cake, and it's something I'll remember for the rest of my life."
On an average winter night, between 30 to 40 homeless people sleep in the shelter, said Captain George Windham, director of the Salvation Army in Lawrence.
But Jay Leipzig, Lawrence's housing coordinator, said many of the shelter's residents had nowhere to go during the day because the shelter only was open from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.
To help solve the problem, the Lawrence City Commission applied to the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Jan. 11 for a $718,634 grant, which would enable the city to fund a 24-hour transitional housing center primarily for homeless males. The new center also would offer private rooms.
The center would hold 20 people for 21 days and then help subsidize affordable housing through the Lawrence Housing Authority, Leizig said.
"I have no idea where it will go, but deciding where it goes will be the biggest battle this town has seen." Nalbandian said.
For Joe, the new center would mean not worrying when he got off work before the shelter opened at 9 p.m.
John Nalbandian, Lawrence mayor, said the center also would house and counsel alcoholics — services the Salvation Army did not provide.
"Sometimes it looks like there's no hope that we're ever going to get out of here," Joe said. "A lot of times we keep each other going."
Chuck, who was spending the night at the shelter, said he had spent his days watching television in the Kansas Union before he checked in at the shelter.
"There's no doubt that Lawrence needs a regular shelter," he said. "It's a community problem and the problem should be addressed at the community level."
Bill Flynn, who also spends nights in the shelter, said he liked shelter but agreed that a full-time shelter was needed.
Windham said the community should band together to combat the homeless issue.
Above: Bill Flynn has been staying at the Lawrence Salvation Army homeless shelter, 946 New Hampshire St., for the past two months. He said the shelter allowed him to get away from the cold. Right: Chuck settles into his cot for the evening at the shelter open from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.
"People would rather give $250,000 for a youth ballpark park or give $250,000 to build a new homeless shelter," he said. "People are more receptive to youth programs. People just don't want a shelter in their neighborhood."
Despite opposition to the new center, some members of the community already have committed themselves to helping. Students at Hillcrest Elementary School, 1045 Hilltop Dr., prepared Wednesday's meal of steak soup and brownies.
"More and more, public schools need to see that academics are important, but also that we want the kids to become adults who will pay attention to their community," she said.
Carol Abrahamson, Hillcrest teacher, said helping the homeless was a valuable lesson for students to learn.
Brian Vandervile/ KANSAN
Executive vice chancellor named to United Way
By Ashley Schultz Kansan staff writer
The United Way of Douglas County, with the help Ed Meyen, executive vice chancellor, is putting forth a united front against inefficiency in Lawrence agencies.
Meyen will serve as head of a cooperative health and human services assessment committee.
School districts, school boards, and city and county commissions have met for long-range planning to figure out how to maximize resources and to plan together for future facilities and locations, said Marilyn Bittenbender, president of the board of directors for the United Way of Douglas County.
The board saw a need to
Ed Meyen
work together and the United Way saw an opportunity to act as a catalyst.
"I think people who provide services need to be absolutely as responsible and careful as we can all be about making sure that the services that are being delivered are squeezing every dollar down to the last drop." Bittenbender said. "That's a collective responsibility."
The health and human services assessment is intended to ferret out service duplication, to see if community needs are being met and if inter-agency cooperation would add to program efficiency. It also is intended to help program definition and to help community benefactors have a better idea of where their money is going.
The cities of Baldwin, Eudora and Lawrence have joined the effort, along with the Baldwin, Eudora, Lawrence and Perry-Lecompton school districts, the Douglas County government, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and the Rice Foundation.
Meyen signed on after about three weeks of discussions. His background as a professor of special education has given him a special interest in how communities respond to the needs of children.
The project has three prongs, Bittenbender said. The first involves interviews and surveys of agency directors, clients and community leaders who make donations. The second is a meeting for public input. The third is the delivery of the committee's recommendations and action plan.
"There are over 100 agencies that deliver health and human services in Douglas County and not all of them are United Way agencies," Bittenbender said. The committee will interpret the data collected by a consulting firm and develop an action plan with recommendations for improvement. That report may be available to the public by October.
The committee's first meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Lawrence school district's service center, 3705 Clinton Pkwy.
Wild Art
A new mural depicting underwater life is hanging in Wescoe Terrace. The mural has attracted attention from students and University employees alike. Page 6.
Graduate students split from Student Senate
By Heather Moore
Kansan staff writer
In an effort to ensure that every student is better represented, the Student Senate approved the creation of a graduate Student Senate Wednesday night.
The two senates will have separate and joint accounts with Student Senate. When students pay fees, graduate fees will go to graduate Senate and undergraduate fees will go to Student Senate.
The graduate Senate will imitate the current structure of the graduate student council in many ways. The main change will be the formula used to divert student fees.
Graduate Senate will use 20 percent of the graduate student fees and put the remaining80percent in a jointSenate fund. There also will be a liaison between the two bodies and graduate Senate will have exofficio voting members on the Student Senate Finance Committee.
Chris O'Brien, outgoing executive director for the graduate student council, said that the creation of a graduate Senate would bring about better student government because the student body would be better represented.
"There would be a shared student body president, shared financial concerns, and cross-representation that would result in a better graduate voice," he said.
O'Brien said the bill would codify practices already in existence.
"This package will move graduate Senate on par with Student Senate in the system of university governance," he said.
Jeff Bottenberg, graduate senator, said this system was used by graduates and should be incorporated into campus governance.
"The body is already there and we want to make it a more effective body," he said. "They would be more effective in what they fund."
graduate students. Bottenberg said.
There are issues that apply directly to
"Grad students aren't welcome in the general population, and they tend to do different things." Bottenberg said.
"Graduates have their own interests, such as teaching, research projects, and publications," he said. "The next step is to imbed them into governance boards."
John Altevogt, graduate senator, also said he supported a separate graduate Senate.
Lynette Sharp, executive director of the graduate Senate, said the new organization would fulfill graduate students needs.
"Grad students often don't know who their graduate senators are because they feel isolated," she said.
There was no reason to stay connected to Student Senate if the graduates weren't represented, Sharp said.
"University officials come to us with questions about graduate student needs," she said. "There is a national trend to have a split senate."
"Why should we segregate this group of the student population when they can't fulfill their requirement to the Student Senate?" he said. "Graduate students should get off their butts, come in and be represented in Student Senate."
Ken Martin, Association of University Residence Halls senator, said that the entity should stay as one.
Travis Harrod, student executive committee chair, also opposed the creation of two Senates.
"There's a group of graduate individuals that want to have the same power and same voice in student governance as the faculty and Student Senate," he said.
Harrod said he was concerned that Student Senate would no longer be the only student voice.
"We'll be dealing with groups that effect the entire student body, but another group will have equal say and yet be addressing one side of the issue," he said.