Sports: Rival figure skater's husband and bodyguard accused in arranging attack on Nancy Kerrigan. Page 12
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.103, NO.79
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPERA KS 666 2
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1994
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
Prerequisites result in drops
NEWS:864-4810
By Susan White
Kansan staff writer
Some KU students may have come to class this week to find that their names have been dropped from class rosters.
The English, math and Spanish departments have automatically dropped students who failed to meet enrollment requirements before the beginning of the semester, said Pam Houston, director of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences undergraduate center.
Houston said most students should have received letters during the winter break notifying them about a drop. However, some letters may have been lost in the mail. Also, students who paid their fees by mail may not have received a receipt with their updated schedules attached.
The math department had specific guidelines set for each course. Houston said,
"Between semesters, I check prerequisites for students enrolled in math courses," she said. "I find that they don't have the prerequisites. They either haven't taken a course, they didn't pass a certain
course the previous semester or their ACT scores aren't high enough. Then I submit a letter telling them that I have to cancel their enrollment.
"Sometimes I don't hear from them. Since I send out the letters, I assume if I do not hear from them that they are agreeing to having that course canceled."
Houston said the Spanish department also set certain requirements for taking classes.
"The Spanish department made some changes in its beginning-level courses," she said. "If students have certain years of high-school Spanish, they have to be in an upper-level course rather than the introductory 104. So the Spanish department tries to work with students, but sometimes it does cancellations."
Students who enrolled in upper-level classes after failing English 101 or 102 were dropped from the classes, as well.
But not all the problems with canceled classes come from classes in these three departments, Houston said.
"Occasionally a department will have to cancel a course or a section of a course," she said. "Then on
the student's registration ticket there will be a message that the section or course is canceled, but sometimes students are automatically put in a different section of the course. So the new section is on the ticket with a note that a section has been canceled.
More class cancellations will take place within the first two weeks of the semester, Houston said. If students do not attend their classes in certain departments, professors will assume they have dropped the class and take them off their rosters.
"Students do not realize that they are enrolled in another section of the same course, so they take a different course. They do not realize that they were added to another section until the grades come out and they have an A for the course."
Joe Van Zandt, director of the KU advising support center, said if students had been dropped for not meeting the prerequisites of the class, they could talk to their instructors about reinstatement.
Tom Leininger / KANSAN
"That is why it is so important to check with a instructor to make sure that you have met all the requirements for the class before enrolling for the class," he said.
Afoggy night
Fox purchase of NFC games worries fans
Antenna, unhooked cable necessary to get network
By Cheryl Cadue Kansan staff writer
"They better get Fox back on Sunflower Cablevision so we can watch NFC games," said Middleton, whose television does not have an antenna. "It is half the NFL, and I don't want to get screwed up reception."
For avid football fan Jim Middleton, third-year law student, watching the Dallas Cowboys play this fall may require more effort than pushing a button on the remote control.
The rights to the games of the Cowboys and the 13 other teams that make up the National Football Conference were bought in December by the Fox Television Network and will be televised this fall exclusively on the Fox network. NFC teams, which also include the San Francisco 49ers, the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears, have won 11 of the past 12 Superbowls.
Two students walk through mist in front of Watson Library late Tuesday night.
But Sunflower Cablevision — Lawrence's only cable company has not carried KSHB, the Fox affiliate in Kansas City, Mo., since Oct. 6.
That month, negotiations between World Company, Sunflower's parent company, and Fox fell through. Fox wanted cable companies to air its new cable channel, and any company that refused — such as Sunflower — would no longer be allowed to carry Fox.
Dennis Knipfer, general manager for Sunflower Cablevision, said Sunflower refused to carry the channel because it did not feel comfortable committing to an untrained channel, but World Company was still negotiating with Fox.
In the meantime, Knipfer said, subscribers still could watch the games if
Sunflower Cablevision has not carried Fox since October.
they unhooked their cable and attached an antennae that easily can be bought at a hardware store.
Some Sunflower customers called when the news of Fox's purchase came out, Knipfer said, but the number of comments eventually declined.
"I wish Fox all the luck in the world, but I do hope it won't hurt the consumer," he said.
Other cable subscribers did not mind the reception, but they disliked the inconvenience.
"I don't have an antenna and it's really just a pain," Jason Harris, Clay Center, junior, said.
Ryan Folkerts, Overland Park, junior, said he would like Fox to return to Sunflower but would settle for attaching an antenna to his television before each game.
"I think Sunflower should definitely get Fox back," he said. "It's just a hassle switching back and forth."
The move of NFC games to Fox will not bother Robert Edwards, Wichita, junior.
"I like the AFC better," he said. "I watch mostly AFC games and for me the NFC games are secondary."
Could the 'Hawks be ranked No.1?
Georgia Tech, ranked 17th at 10-3, crushed No. 1 North Carolina 89-69 last night
The othertime the Tur-
Heels were ranked at No. 1 this season, they lost in the third round of the Presseason National Invitational Tournament.
This leaves Duke, at 10-0 and ranked No. 2, as the prime candidate for the new No. 1 spot. But tonight the Blue
But tonight the Blue
Devils play Wake Forest at home, a team that beat them last year.
And No. I may be cursed this year. No team has held the position for more than three weeks.
Arkansas, Kentucky and now Carolina have all fallen after holding the No.1 position.
The 'Hawks play K-State at 8:30 p.m. Monday in Allen Field House.
Nintendinitis
Repetitive pushing of buttons on a home video game system controller can lead to wrist injuies that may cause pain, loss of sensation in the finger or even a total loss of use in the hand.
Page 3.
Legislators expect vigorous debate over elusive death penalty legislation
By Stephen Martino Kansan staff writer
It is probably the state's greatest political and social irony.
But in past years, the Legislature has passed legislation to legalize the practice only to have the governor veto it. Governors have ran campaigns promising to sign any death penalty bill presented to them; the Legislature fails to accommodate their request.
Kansas is a moderately conservative state in America's heartland. More than 70 percent of the states' residents claim, through opinion polls, that they want the return of capital punishment, society's most severe penalty against its worst members.
"We've never been in a situation like this one before," said State Rep. Betty Jo Charlton, D-Lawrence. "When Gov. Carlin was in office, the Legislature would pass death penalty laws because they knew he would veto them. When Gov. Hayden was in office, everyone knew he would sign the bill, so many re-evaluated their positions."
Gov. Joan Finney's declaration that she would allow a death penalty bill passed by the Legislature to become law without her signature is its best chance of passage, Charkon said.
"The death penalty will take up to 70 percent of my time this year," said State Rep. Greg Packer, R-Topeka, the sponsor of the House bill.
Two bills have been introduced in the Legislature, one in each chamber. And no one is expecting easy deliberations.
Packer is a freshman legislator who says
ANALYSIS
“If criminals start thinking that it's their life they will be giving up, maybe they will think twice before killing someone,” he said.
that the time has come for Kansas to begin exacting the ultimate punishment.
Not so, says State Rep. Forrest Swall, D-Lawrence, and an assistant professor of social welfare at the University of Kansas.
"There is no deterrence involved when the death penalty is used," he said. "This is an issue where people are generally going to respond to their beliefs, and the
Mark Parkinson
Greg Packer
facts are of little relevance."
Swall said that supporting the death penalty was a knee-jerk reaction to society's outrage about crime.
"We keep talking about how to handle the results of crime without any substantive discussion on the causes of crime," he said. "The death penalty isn't a very encouraging discussion. Few people change their views on facts presented or pleas of persuasion."
However, two things have changed the environment enough in Kansas to make
Finney either changed her mind or clarified her murky position on the issue.
I remember my legislative time valuable, and I wasn't going to spend time on the death penalty as long as the governor continued her opposition to it," said State Sen. Mark Parkinson, R-Olathe, and author of Senate legislation "However, when the governor said that she would allow the bill to become law without her signature, I knew we had a chance to pass a bill."
death penalty passage an even bet in the Legislature this year.
Packer said that Schmidt's death had an influence in his decision to introduce death penalty legislation.
And the July 1993 murder of Stephanie Schmidt, a Pittsburg State University student, refocused the state's attention on how violent crime is handled.
"It's a travesty to see any young person die before their time," he said. "It's horrible that we allow people like the guy who killed her out on street."
However, Packer said arguments against the death penalty tend to detract from an overall discussion on crime.
Schmidt's murderer, Donald Gideon, was a paroled felon known to have committed sex crimes.
"This is only one aspect of a stronger penal system and punishment," he said. "We have to look at the big picture."
One person who says he is looking at the big picture and does not see the death penalty is House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita.
Sawyer said he would lead the charge against the death penalty in the House based on its ineffectiveness, cost and chance of killing innocent persons.
"The death penalty doesn't have anything to do with fighting crime," he said.
"Since 1984, there have been four documented cases of innocent people being executed." he said.
The estimated cost to the state for the death penalty would range from $10 to $13 million, Sawyer said.
"People don't want things done that are wasteful and stupid," he said. "Spending $10 to $13 million on something ineffective is completely stupid."
Stupid or not, supporters say the option to execute is needed in Kansas.
"These are not easy issues," Parkinson said. "And people who choose not to support it, I can respect that, and we can still be friends. I think we have reached the point in time when this option must be available."
The Senate bill was assigned to the Judiciary Committee and hearings will probably begin the week of Jan. 24 or Jan. 31.
And in an election year when all representatives will be up for re-election, many believe that this issue is too important to voters for legislators to ignore.
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"In the past this state has had the benefit of thoughtful legislators and governors." Swall said. "The jury is out on what will happen right now."
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