State Work-Study Program has job openings Inside, p. 3
The University Daily
KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
CLOUDY
High, 75. Low, 55.
Details on p. 2
Vol. 94, No.18 (USPS 650-640)
Wednesday morning, September 14, 1983
U.S. allows air strikes in Beirut
By United Press International
BEIRUT, Lebanon — U.S. officials authorized air strikes yesterday against Syria-backed rebels if they attack Marine positions again, and the U.S. military will provide Moslem assault on the approaches to Beirut.
The Druse attack on Souk al-Gharb, 8 miles southeast of Beirut, came as President Reagan authorized U.S. Marine commanders in Lebanon to order air strikes and naval bombardments to protect peace-keeping troops and diplomats under attack in the civil war.
AT AU.N. Security Council meeting, Lebanese
special presidential envoy Ghassaan Tueni said that his government wanted all "illegitimate forces" to leave Lebanon.
As negotiations continued between the White House and Congress on adherence to the War Powers Resolution, presidential spokesman John McCain and Senator Barack Obama changed in U.S. military procedures in Lebanon.
Speakes said the Marine contingent and offshore support units could conduct air strikes against Syrian-backed Moslems "if there is a threat to the safety of the MNF, other U.S. military personnel in Beirut, and the U.S. diplomatic presence."
HE SAID THE Marines could also order air
sturkes and naval bombardments in response to attacks on Lebanese army positions "if that action against the Lebanese armed forces endangers the Marines."
Although the new orders could escalate American participation in what Reagan has called Lebanon's "civil war" act, and sharpen debate over the war powers act, Speaks said Reagan still believes the presence of the Marines on the ground and the other U.S. military personnel offshore does not require a congressional mandate.
HOWEVER, WHITE House officials consulted with congressional leaders for a second straight day on a possible softening of that position.
Gary Smith/KANSAN
The drop in temperatures has made for perfect fishing weather as Richard Beffert, 81, Mission, can attest. Beffert, a retired silversmith, tried his luck at Clinton yesterday.
Good weather good fishing
Downtown debated
By JOHN HOOGESTEGER Staff Reporter
New designs sought
The Lawrence City Commission last night took what one commissioner called two big steps forward in downtown redevelopment, and what some commissioners thought might be a step backward.
The commission adopted a timetable for redevelopment that was prepared by Dean Palos, city planner for the project, and agreed to hire a developer of record at its meeting.
Oct. 18 to meet
However, between now and Oct. 18, the
commission has opened the door for local developers to offer redevelopment options to the city that would be considered with present proposals.
In other major action, despite neighborhood protest, the commission approved a zoning variance that will allow the Lawrence city to move into a residential neighborhood.
Since mid-July, the city's original developer of record for the redevelopment project, Sizzler Realty Co. Inc., Kenner La., has received a letter from the city has helped off sign another agreement.
Soviet fighter pilots say Korean jet evaded chase
By United Press International
See CITY, p. 5, col. 4
MOSCOW — The veteran airman who shot down a South Korean jet said yesterday that the passenger plane's pilot had tried to dodge it and had failed, but that the Russians "didn't fall for that trick."
A second pilot, the first to intercept the Korean Air Lines 747 with 269 people aboard, said that the Korean pilot "knew his onions very well" and asked the pilot to him that the plane might carry passengers.
The military newspaper Red Star (Krasnaya Zveeda) also said the Korean plane emitted "short, codified signals which are usually used in transmitting intelligence data" while flying over
THE TWO PILOTS, neither identified by
name, were quoted in the Red Star report Both also appeared on Soviet television Saturday, giving Soviet viewers a rare glimpse of jets scrambling to intercept intruders.
Washington says the interceptors must have known the identity of the Korean Air Lines jet shot down Sept. 1 over the north Pacific, but unauthorized aircraft in a U.S. airplane was just cover for a U.S. spy mission.
"The South Korean pilot had recourse to a trick that is often used by U.S. pilots manning RC-335," the pilot who shot the plane down told Red Star.
"He lowered all the flaps, and the intruder plane began to lose speed. This was done in the hope that the Soviet aircraft will dash past" and the intruder could escape, the pilot said.
"But I did not fall for that trick," he said, "and
we Pln-PLan no. 5 - col. 1."
State wants 'high-tech czar'
Staff Reporter
Rv PAUL SEVART
TOPEKA — Kansas needs a "high-tech czar" to coordinate industry, education and government in expanding the state's high-technology economy. The department of economic development said yesterday.
jamie Schwartz, the secretary, told the interim legislative educational planning committee that a search committee was looking for someone to lead the state's high-tech effort.
somethin to help you. That position, the advanced technology director, will probably be associated with the department of economic development, he said.
The establishment of the position is more important than those considerations, he said.
SCHWARTZ SAID HE was indifferent about whether the position stayed under his department, went to another agency or became independent.
The chairman of the committee, State Rep. Denise Apt, R-Iola, said, "This committee is trying to get a feel for high-technology schools and to find a match between them somewhere."
Schwartz told the education committee that the goal of the Governor's Task Force on High-Technology Development, which released its recommendations earlier this month, was to develop "a blueprint, not a bible" for high tech in Kansas.
Schwartz emphasized the cooperation between universities and industry in training people to work in high-tech fields.
They can also cooperate in research, he said, although Kansas does not have the resources to equal the research efforts of a Stanford University or a Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
See INTERIM, p. 5, col. 1
Survey shows KU employees differ in opinion on merit pay
Staff Reporter
By PAUL SEVART
A survey of classified employees released last night by the University of Kansas Classified Senate indicated a mixed opinion on whether merit should be reinstated.
Thomas Sweatingen, Classified Senate president, said that the survey was conducted to determine views of the organization's constituency and to ensure it is unfulfilled in tabling at the Kansas Legislature.
Suzanne Cupp, a senator who helped write and compile the survey, said the questionnaire asked three questions that were essentially the same about priorities for the organization.
ON ONE OF the questions, the 293 respondents ranked the reinstatement and financing of merit pay as the first priority for the Kansas Legislature. On another question, however,
merit pay was ranked No. 4; the most popular choice was having an option of no merit pay but increased benefits such as sick leave or annual leave.
The survey also indicated that a slight majority of the respondents considered a fair cost-of-living for fiscal year 1985 to be from 7 percent to 10 percent; 84 percent of the respondents said the Classified Senate should continue its lobbying efforts in the Legislature; and 62 percent favored a 90-point retirement plan.
Cupp and Swearingen said they were pleased by the 26 percent response rate of the 1,100 classified employees who received a copy of the survey. Those classified employees represented by organized labor were not included in the survey.
THE 90-POINT PLAN, introduced in the Legislature by State Rep. Jessie Branson, D-Lawrence, would allow a state employee to
retire with full benefits after the total of the employee's age and years of service reached 90. Swearingen said the bill would be reintroduced in the 1984 session.
Swearinger said he was surprised by the result of the question about whether to continue a monthly pay period or change to a two-week period. Several years ago, he said, a poll indicated classified employees were strongly against a change. This year's poll, however, indicated that 44.5 percent are in favor of the change and 40 percent are against it.
The results of the survey will be distributed to legislators, the Board of Regents, the University Board of Regents, and other stakeholders.
ANOTHER TOPIC AT the meeting was working conditions during winter recess. William Hogan, associate executive vice chancellor, assured the 20 or so people at the meeting that
"Now people are having a harder time getting through the month," he said.
Hogan said the University was saving about $40,000 a month during the warm weather by periodically shutting down the air-conditioning systems in several buildings. He said that $804,000 left over from the energy budget last year would be used to finance energy-conservation measures in some buildings this year.
"Last year was quite a rude awakening." Hogan said of the winter restreaking heat plan. "I think we'll probably use it for the next few years, but we'll evaluate afterward each time."
buildings would be kept warmer than they were last year or would be closed this winter.
The University, in order to keep building temperatures automatically within limits, needs more equipment, Hogan said. Until then employees will have to live with some variance during the recess.
Spiders trigger 38 false fire alarms at Bailey Hall
By MICHAEL PAUL
Staff Reporter
Spider beetles the size of the tip of a pen have set off 38 false fire alarms at Bailey Hall in the past seven months causing the Lawrence Fire Department to reduce to one the number of fire trucks it will send there in response to an emergency alarm.
Jim McSwain, Lawrence fire chief, began the policy Aug. 10. In a memo sent to John Mullens, KU's director of public safety, McSwain said that "the policy would remain in effect until the system has been corrected."
"Considering the past, that's a pretty good sign," he said.
He said the last false alarm at Bailey was Aug. 27.
A NEW SYSTEM was installed Jan. 31, said
Robert Porter, assistant director of facilities operations.
"it's as up to date as you can get," Porter said. But during the seven months since its installation, the system has signaled 38 false alarms: two false alarms in February, seven in March, three in April, six in May, 10 in June, five in July and five in August.
The system includes smoke detectors and heat indicators, he said.
Porter said that in July he called Simplex, the company in Topeka that manufactured the alarms, to try to determine the cause of the false alarms.
Dave Siewert, service manager for Simplex, said that the University had sent some detectors to them to be examined and that the spiders had been found when the detectors were being cleaned.
NEITHER SIEWERT NOR Porter was certain how the spider beetles got into the alarms.
Siewert said that this was not a problem unique to Bailey Hall.
Kansas State University had the same problem with a system installed several years ago.
A light is aimed at a black surface in the alarms, he said. Whenever that surface color changes, the light will detect the change and that will set off the alarm.
Bill Wade, building system account manager for Simplex, said the bugs and insects from the computer were so numerous that they
"The spiders are a lighter color than the surface," Wade said. "The light reflects off this lighter color and sets off the alarm."
Porter said that to alleviate the bug problem at Bailey, the alarms had been sprayed and that no-pest strips had been put in the alarms.
WHETHER THE PROBLEM has been solved will be determined by the number of false alarms that occur in the next months.
But until the Lawrence Fire Department is satisfied that the system has been corrected, it will continue to send only a fire truck to any emergency alarms at Bailey unless other information indicates a possible fire. In that case, more trucks will be sent.
Mullens said the fire department began this policy because it was concerned about the safety of its men responding to alarms.
Mullens said the false alarms also had consequences for KU students.
"There is always a danger in responding to a supposed emergency situation," he said. "You're putting people out in cars running stop signs. If you look at the number of firefighters killed in the United States, you'll find that a lot of numbers are killed in traffic response to a fire."
"When you have people not believing that a fire alarm means fire," he said, "that's usually the time when a fire starts creeping down the hallway."
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — An armored service company guard returned from a cash pickup drew a gun on his partner and a branch manager, injected them with a drug and escaped with up to $8 million in cash, police said yesterday.
By United Press International
Man escapes in $8 million cash robbery
An arrest warrant was issued for Victor Gerena, 25, of Hartford, charging him with the Monday robbery of the Wells Fargo Armored Service branch office.
It was described as the largest cash heist in state history and the second largest in the United States.
GERENA, WAS SOUGHT by federal, state and local police. He was accused of tying up the two fellow employees, injecting them with heroin, according to Police Chief Francis Reynolds.
Gerena was described as Hispanic, with 5-feet-6 and 150 pounds. He was thought to have been armed with a shotgun and two revolvers and to have escaped in a 1974 green Buick Electra, police said. He may have left the state.
The company issued a reward of $250,000 for recovery of the money, which was insured, and $100,000 for an arrest and conviction in the case. A police spokesman said the firm was able to determine that at least one case was taken, but an inventory was still going on.
REYNOLDS CITED THE possibility that more than one person was involved.
Wells Fargo branch manager James McKeown, of Hartford, and guard Timothy Girard, of Tolland, told police they were behind the attacking that made them drowsy. Reynolds said.