KANSAN
The University Daily
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Wednesday, August 26,1981 Vol.92,No.4 USPS 650-640
KEITH FLANERY/Kansan Staff
Joan Valverde, Leavenworth sophomore, right, uses a folded newspaper to protect herself from rain as she and her sister Valerie, a senior, crossed the KU campus yesterday. Heavy rains this fall are a reversal from last year's dry weather that plagued Lawrence.
Storm causes damages, leaves 100 without power
A lightning storm that swept through Lawrence yesterday afternoon left a half-inch of rain and 100 residents without power.
"We took quite a beating from this lightning
storm," she said to Kelogh, a lineman for
Kangsa Power and Power, in Fiji.
Bob St. John, school superintendent for KPRL, said the largest area affected was Miller Acres, where 30 homes lost electricity and 56 homes are east of Iowa Street and north of I-70
He said about 24 residents in an apartment complex at 1733 W. 29th St. lost power.
Lightning struck three transformers, and some residents were without power as late as 9 p.m. as workers assessed the damages and tried to replace the transformers.
St. John said most of the outages were caused by damaged power lines.
"If lightning strikes the line, it will create a surge of too much electricity," St. John said. "It blows the fuse. Most of the work was a matter of plugging in new fuses."
Despite the damages, St. John called yesterday's rain a minor storm.
"It was minuscule compared to the tornado on June 19" he said.
Senate planning credit union with student checking benefits
By MIKE ROBINSON Staff Reporter
KU students won't have to pay fees for their checks or checking accounts if a Student Senate proposal gets off the ground.
Bert Coleman, student body president, said that he was working on a proposal to set up a student credit union at the University of Kansas. The credit union would offer students checking without service charges and possibly provide low interest loans.
The idea of a credit union was discussed in several Student Senate Executive Committee meetings this summer, be said, but no formal action has been taken on the project.
NO LAWRENCE BANK offers free checking
for $50 or minimum of $100 to
$500 in a regular account.
In some special accounts, such as interest-
payments or limited credit loans, we can get free check-
bills by issuing limited credit loans to go for free check-
pays.
"I think Lawrence area banks are taking advantage of students." Coleman said. "Students don't have a lot of money in the bank and 25 cents (per check) is a lot of money."
But he said that a credit union could be the biggest boon to students since the Senate began the war.
Coleman said the specifics of the proposal have not been worked out yet and that it might be a better approach.
THE IDEA FOR a credit union came from several credit unions at eastern universities, College of Business.
He said he hoped to pattern the credit union here after the student credit union at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn.
That credit union has been in operation since 1979 and has assets of nearly $2 million, said Craig Lund, head of computer operations and operations of the Student Credit Union at the university.
IT OFFERS checking accounts, savings accounts and summer money certificates, Lund said. The union is staffed by more than 100 student volunteers and a paid full-time manager.
Lund said that 2,185 people participate in the credit union.
The credit union also is considering purchasing a money machine for its student union and working with a statewide bank to offer students a students no matter where they are in the state.
Coleman said he was unsure how Lawrence area banks would react to the idea of students depositing money into another institution and he afraid pressure might be used to kill the idea.
But Lund said that although one Connecticut bank has been hostile toward the student credit union, several other banks had been very helpful.
HE SAID MANY of the banks saw the student credit union as a recruiting ground for future workers and they liked the novelty of helping to start the credit union.
"They (the other banks) also look at us as being, I guess you'd call it, 'cute,' he said.
The University of Connecticut credit union began with a $20,000 grant from the *Student Senate* and has since backed each year for 7,000. Lund said.
The additional money is used to fund new programs the credit union is trying. Otherwise, the organization is now self-sufficient, he said.
Coleman said he would like to take the same approach and have the Student Senate appropriate up to $30,000 to get a credit union started.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student at fairs, said he believed more study should be undertaken before Senate approved the idea. Ambler said that more research and polling of students would be necessary.
students needed to be done to make sure that Ambler said that more research and polling of students needed to be done to make sure that there was a real need for a credit union.
"If students shop around, I'm sure they can find something that fits their needs," he said.
HE ALSO suggested that Senate ask the University employee credit union to expand its services to include students rather than spend the money to start a new credit union.
But Coleman said he thought the idea was worth pursuing and he would push for the credit union during the rest of his term, which ends in November, and behind.
Shankel named special counselor to Budig
By SHARON APPELBAUM Staff Reporter
Del Shankel, former acting KU chancellor, has not finished his administrative career vet.
Budig said those issues included aca programs and the University budget.
Chancellor Gene Budig who has named Shankel as his special counselor, said yesterday, "I intend to consult with Dr. Shankel on a regular basis." She also noted that the university's unique appreciation of the University of Kansas."
Budig announced the appointment at a luncheon following Monday's convocation and in-
"His contribution will not be limited to special projects," Budig said. "He will be consulted on many major issues that will confront the University."
Richard Von Ende, executive secretary to the chair of the National Research Council would also continue his work on special programs.
Shankler has been studying the problems of mixin athletics and academics. He is also negotiating contracts with private practice schools to provide security at Kansas Medical Center, Von Ende said.
Keith Nitcher, director of business affairs, said Shankel would help determine "what it's worth to have these people practice medicine and teach students."
Shankel he said he would be "happy to assist (Budie) in every wav possible."
this special rule for two reasons. First, I want to formally recognize his many contributions as executive vice chancellor and acting chancellor. Second, I want him to remain active in the administrative affairs of the University. He has much to offer KU.
Budig said, "I am asking Dr. Shankel to accept
"It is important to draw upon our very best faculty and staff."
Shankel plans to leave on sabbatical Sept. 15 to study in Japan. He will return in November to take on his new job, and he will teach biology and biology during the spring semester.
"I am heartened that Dr. Shankel is willing to assume this added responsibility," Budig said. "That characterizes the man and his academic career."
BY STEVE ROBRAHN
Parking-permit fee mistakes found
Staff Reporter
Some residence hall students have been overcharged for parking permits, but confusion surrounds exactly when the overcharges happened and how many students were affected
Embarrassed KU Parking Services officials said yesterday that anyone who was charged too much would receive a full refund of the over-charge.
"Those people will be contacted and their money will be guaranteed by you," said the attorney, director of law.
The problem arose when a clerk misunderstood the price of residence hall permits and charged students $24 per year instead of $2.
Kearns said his department was aware of only the persons who were overcharged—all on Monday.
HOWEVER, AN EMPLOYEE of the KU Student Assistance Center said a clerk had at-
See REFUNDS page 5
Wendy's offers food, money for pennies
By MARK ZIEMAN Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Wendy's, ain't no reason to take your pennies anyplace else.
In an effort to scrounge up extra pennies, Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. 523 W. 23rd St. is offering its customers free merchandise for fifty cents in exchange for every roll of pennies.
Like other area businesses, Wendy's has been hit by a penny shortage. Manager Diane Douglas figures that a Junior Frosty or small fries is more than worth a roll of the precious pennies.
"Most of our customers don't realize there is a shortage of pennies," Douglas said. "Our bank is allotting us two or three dollars a day in pennies, and we need almost ten dollars a day."
A Lawrence restaurant is offering free french fries in exchange for pennies, which are in short supply these days.
Local banks, however, also want their share of the hoarded pennies.
Jill Grammer, manager of the Douglas County Bank at Ninth and Kentucky Streets, said that the bank will provide a service for the bank.
GRAMMER SAID THE bank was urging its customers to "please bring their pennies to us." The bank has even offered to roll the pennies she said.
Grammer said that the Wendy's offer was made for the purpose of getting more pennies back into circulation and was not intended to be used in hoard pennies even more in hope of future returns.
In fact, at one time the bank was getting $500 a week in wages, she said. Now it is getting only $20 a week.
"Our allotment of pennies has been cut to one-quarter of what we normally get a week," she
"We will not roll pennies for people to use at Wendy's," she said, citing an example of a customer bringing in $48 worth of pennies to be rolled for use at Wendy's.
Other businesses in the area also have been hit by the shortage, Grammer said, but as of yet no other business has resorted to giving out free merchandise.
Every week the Douglas County Bank is shipped an allotment of pennies from the First National Bank of Kansas City, Mo., which in turn sends an allotment to the Federal Reserve.
Bob Britton, assistant vice president of cash reserves for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Mo., said that the bank began allocating pennies in March of 1980.
Grammer added that others might follow Wendy's example in the near future.
"This is simply a case of demand being greater than supply," Britton said. "We noticed in 1980 that the demand was quickly reaching the point of exhausting our inventory."
BRINTON SAID THE demand was caused mainly by the price of copper, which at the time was near the point where a penny was worth more than one cent.
Brinton said the price of copper has decreased since then, but the demand for pennies has not, and there is no evidence that it will.
Bronton said that although the penny shortage was serious, it was an artificial shortage.
"There are plenty of pennies out there," he said. "There has always been and always will be a trend for people to take pennies home and board them. People empty their pockets at night and don't bother to use the pennies the next day. I do that, too."
He said that unless people returned the pennies to circulation, matters could get much worse.
"We have been able to keep our allocation program at current levels because we have received additional shipments from the mint," he said.
Briton said it was possible that those allocations would be reduced in the future, possibly soon. This would cause the Federal Reserve to reduce its allotment by as much as 30 percent of the banks' shock waves that would hit hard at the banks, businesses, and ultimately, the consumer.
It will be partly cloudy today with a 39 percent chance of thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
Highs today will be in the low to mid 80s. Lows tonight will dip into the lower 60s.
It will be continued partly cloudy with a rain on Thursday with a high in the mid 80s.
Violations of city zoning regulations may cause fraternity to close house
Four members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity but one month to buy their house before it is put on sale.
The owner, Kent Synder, Overland Park, said he had already given the fraternity six months to decide whether to purchase the house.
However, even if the fraternity buys the house, it still faces violations of the city's zoning laws.
Under the law, no more than four unrelated people can live in a house in the Oread neigh-
ALTHOUGH THE FOUR fraternity members now living in the house meet this standard, the code also requires that a fraternity or sorority in the house be registered with the foot lot. The house has a 3,500 square foot lot.
Mike Wilden, assistant city manager, said the measure he could be sure are how large the condo complex is.
The Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Acacia, Beta Theta PI and Alpha Tau Omafra graternities also are in the Oread neighborhood. A member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon house and one from the Acacia house said they were not sure if their lits were broken. Other houses could not be reached for comment.
Snyder said he recently sent Omega Psi Phi a letter stating that the members would have to buy their house at 1147 Kentucky St., pending action by the City Commission to change the
zoning for the lot, or he would put the house up for sale.
Brent Fouse, Pasedena, Calif., senior, and secretary for the Omaha PSi Phis, said the members had not yet sorted their mail, but would do so on their first meeting tomorrow night. He said they could take no action until they had their meeting.
FOUSE SAID THAT they were a small
externality and could not understand why the laws
were so strict.
"It's just a difference in opinion," Fouse said. "We just don't have a fraternity we just don't have 20,000 square feet."
Jeff Southard, president of the Oread Neighborhood Association, said that when the men leased the house, either they or the owner did not understand the zoning law.
"We don't really have anything against them, but we'd just like to see the zona rules uplift," he said.
Fouse said all they wanted was a house to live in with no limitations put on it.
ACCORDING TO Wildden, a fraternity cannot exist where the Omerna house is located.
Last spring, the city made Sydney and the four men spring in the house remove three Greek settlers.
Wildgen said that Snyder guaranteed him that
SOME OF MEYE'S AGE 5.