Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Thursday, October 5, 1989
3
U.S., Soviet ecological laws differ
Soviet officials say superpowers share common concern
Alexandere Timoshenko, left, and Mikhail Brinchuk discuss Soviet environmental protection.
By Beth Behrens Kansan staff writer
Though the United States and the Soviet Union share concerns about the environment, laws protecting the environment vary. Soviet officials said last night.
Alexandre Timoshenko and Mikhail Brinchuk, both from the Ecological Sector of the Soviet Institute of State and Law in Moscow, spoke at a public forum about environmental protection laws. They are in the United States as delegates to a U.S.-Soviet environmental law exchange.
The exchange is part of a 1972 treaty concerning legal and administrative questions of environmental protection. The treaty includes cooperation between East and West with the exchange of literature ideas and the exchange Coggin, Goggins, and law has visited the Soviet Union under this exchange in 1983 and 1988.
"I especially invited them because foreign visitors only so to coastal cities." Coggins said.
In their country, Timeshenko and Brinchuk said they gave scientific evaluations to the government on enterprises that would impact the environment.
"One of the aspects (of our sector) is the theory of law enforcement," Timoshenko said. "For example, if there is a breach of law, what matters should be looked at? We don't deal with the practice of law enforcement, but one of our major tasks is the theory of lawmaking."
Brinchuk said his speciality was solid and hazardous waste disposal. Timoshenko said he was concerned with the evaluation of the whole body of legislation and environment.
During their visit to the United States, they plan to study U.S. legislation on environmental protection in order to bring new ideas back to the Soviet Union.
Brinchuk said an example of this was the Soviet version of the U.S. Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. He said the atmospheric law had been passed, but the water law was under deliberation in the Supreme Soviet Council.
But Timoshenko said it was not always possible to use all the ideas they found.
"That doesn't mean we just copy the ideas," he said. "Even if we wished to, we could not because we have so many differences.
"The best ideas are always in the air, and inevitably, someone says to produce it. I think the world must experience this to save the energy."
Brinchuk said the main environmental problem the Soviet Union had was enforcement of laws. "It's very hard in our country to enforce rules," he said. "One of the problems of enforcement is
very soft penalties in our legislation. There are very low administered fines up to 100 rubles. It's very low. We do not use widely criminal penalties."
Timoshenko said another reason was the economy in the Soviet Union.
"Because we have a state economy, it means we take money from one pocket and put it in the other," he said. "The efficiency of the law enforcement depends on how the law itself provides the mechanism for fines."
he said it would make a difference if, for example, the overseers of an enterprise would pay 10 percent from their own pockets.
Timoshenko and Brinchuk came to the United States on Sept. 21 to attend a U.S.-Soviet conference in San Diego. At this conference, the Citizens' Treaty on Ecological Security was adopted.
Timeshene said the treaty would be circulated through ecological groups in both countries for signatures. If enough signatures are collected, he said, the treaty will be presented at the Bush-Gorchebe summit in 1991 and the U.N. Conference on human environment in 1992.
Timoshenko and Brinchuk will be staying in Lawrence until Oct. 11. During this time, they will give speeches to law and Soviet studies students, as well as participate in a symposium at the Music Hall in Kansas City, Mo.
After leaving Lawrence, the two will visit Washington D.C. Detroit and Oregon.
Andy Crane, left, shows Binchuk how to swing a softball bat during a game at Broken Arrow park.
Beth Behrens/Special to the Kansan
New contact rules spoil football fun for greek players
By Lara Weber
Kansan staff writer
Many fraternity members think that Recreation Services was out of bounds recently in deciding to adopt no-contact rules for intramural football games.
The Interfraternity Council decided Tuesday to play under the new rules and not boycott the program as they had previously considered, said Jay Cooper, IFC chairman of intramural sports.
However, many of the fraternity members said they were still unhappy with the no-contact rules.
"Football is a contact sport," he said. "When they take away the contact, it's no fun anymore."
David Short, intramural chairman for Alpha Tau Omega, said his fraternity would play by the new rules but did not support the change.
During the summer, Recreation Services decided to change the intramural football program to flag football. At the time, the IFC supported the change.
The rule change in question among fraternities is a switch to no-contact blocking, or shadow blocking. There is a neutral zone of one yard between the linemen, in which only incidental contact is allowed.
“It’s kind of like basketball because there’s absolutely no contact whatsoever,” said Mark Pettijohn, Tau Kappa Epsilon intramural chairman. “It stinks. It’s kind of like ballet.”
▶ To promote a more exciting game.
▶ To add a co-recreational football division because football was the only sport without a co-rec division.
Gordon Kratz, public relations director for Recreation Services, said flag football was implemented for three reasons.
Kratz said the flag football rules to gain more national exposure.
To promote a recreational atmosphere
"Our national organization sponsors a national flag football tournament at the Sugar Bowl. KU has never been involved," he said.
It's kind of like basketball because there's absolutely no contact whatsoever. It stinks. It's kind of like ballet.'
Mark Petijohn
Tau Kappa Epsilon
tauM. Kappa chairman.
Kratz said there might have been miscommunication with IFC because when the fraternity members realized the no-contact rules were part of the flag football program they protested.
*from our standpoint, it was made very clear that there'd be rule changes and that there'd be no contact." Kratz said.
He said, however, that the IFC was considering the possibility of holding its own tournament with the old contact rules at the end of the season instead of participating in the Recreation Services tournament.
Kratz said Recreation Services would support the IFC if it decided to have its own tournament.
However, Cooper said it was important to play the season under the new rules.
"We won't know how good or bad these new rules are until we try it," he said.
Some fraternity members remain reluctant to accept the no-contact rules.
Zach Unruth, the chairman of the Kappa Sigma intramural football program, said his fraternity was not in support of the new rules but did
"We were disappointed," he said.
"It takes the big man out of the game. We're not really in support of it at all."
Short said the ATO members would participate as well, despite the controversy.
"It's good practice even if it's no fun," he said.
Qualified admissions battle lingers
Bv Kate Lee
Kansan staff writer
The Board of Regents battle for a qualified admissions policy in the state is not over, University and Regents members say.
The Regents have tried on a number of occasions, including the most recent legislative session, to get a policy of qualified admissions made law in the state.
Norman Jeter, chairman of the Regents, said that the Regents still supported the plan.
In order to be admitted to a Regents school under the plan, students would have to complete a pre-college curriculum determined by the Regents with a grade point average of at least 2.0, have a compulsory exam in the second year, and rank in the top one-third of their class after completing seven or eight semesters.
The pan would help decrease the number of freshmen dropping out of Regents institutions, Jeter said.
"Twenty-five percent of the freshmen drop out," he said. "Our attrition is terrible."
Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, said that the University
continued to support the Regents plan.
She said the plan emphasized the preparation of students for college-level work, especially in basic skills classes such as mathematics and English.
Jeter said that a 50 percent failure rate in basic math courses at KU proved math and science skills to be essential.
The key to Kansas adopting a program of qualified admissions is educating the public, said State Rep. Richard R. Reinhardt, D-Erie, a member of the House-Senate Legislative Educational Planning Committee.
Reinhardt, a former member of the Regents, was opposed to qualified admissions when he was first a Regent.
"It was the attitude that I pay taxes in the state, and my child should be able to go to whatever school he wants to," he said. "It was the emotional thing. After studying it in detail, though, I found that it makes good sense."
Reinhardt said that his emotions were shared by many people in the state but that it was necessary to be
realistic about the situation.
"There are people who think that if you graduate from high school, you are equal to anybody else who has graduated from a high school," he said. "I don't thinks that's true."
Ramaley said she did not accept the argument that paying taxes entitled someone to a college education.
"People don't argue that with other things," she said. "I pay taxes that go to the department of motor vehicles, but I can't get a license unless I learn how to drive. Services and opportunities that are supported in part by state funds do not carry the right to them without proper training."
"When we first started studying this, I was told it would lower the freshman drop-out rate and that remedial costs would go down," Francisco said.
State Rep. Kenneth Francisco, D-Maize, another member of the committee, said that he opposed the plan on a statewide basis.
He said he voted in favor of the plan the first time it came before the Legislature.
Arabic classes to be chopped from KU after academic year
By Anita Meyer
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas offers 27 foreign languages, according to the 1988-90 KU catalog. Soon, that number will drop to 28.
After the 1989-90 academic year, Arabic will be dropped from the linguistics curriculum, said Frances Ingemann, acting chairman of the department of linguistics.
Ingemann said for several years, Arabic classes had been financed by private donations. This year the state paid for it.
"The private donations ran out," she said. "Last year, we weren't planning on having the third and fourth levels of Arabic, but the students in one and two petitioned. They would've had to start over with a different foreign language to fulfill the requirement."
The College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences requires students to complete 16 hours of a foreign language. The first two beginning level classes are five credit hours
Abdel Al-igbaly, graduate teaching assistant, teaches Arabic 210 this semester and will teach Arabic 220 next semester. This is his fifth year of teaching Arabic.
Ingemann said Arabic had been offered since the mid-to late 1970s.
Six students are currently enrolled in 210, the only Arabic class offered this semester. Aligbably said that in the past, he had as many as 20 students in his class.
"The University of Kansas has always been proud that we could offer so many foreign languages," he said. "I don't think losing Arabic will have a positive effect on the University."
Al-gibaly said because Arabic was one of the six official languages of the United Nations, KU
Arigbaly said he believed students enrolled in Arabic for personal reasons.
"Many want to learn the language for a requirement," he said. "They also may take Arabic because they are Arabic or they're married to somebody who is Arabic."
Al-gibaly said he had personal reasons for teaching the language.
"It's my native language," he said. "I'm from Cairo, Egypt. I'm in my future area of dissertation. It also is a source of income."
CONGRATULATIONS
“It's one of the major languages of the world,” he said. “More than 150 million people speak it. The East and West have a lot of problems. A lot of those problems are because of a lack of communication. The East and West need to communicate.”
students would benefit from knowing how to speak it.
Alpha Chi Omega Pledgemoms & Pledgedots!
AEPi Presents
EDDY "The Chief" CLEARWATER AND HIS BLUES BAND
SATURDAY OCTOBER 7, 1989
9:00PM
AT THE TEE-PEE
- BUSSES RUNNING FROM AEPi ALL NIGHT
- REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED
$3.00 TICKET SALES TODAY AT WESCOE BEACH
$4.00 DONATION REQUESTED AT THE DOOR
PROCEEDS GO TO KU WAR ON HUNGER
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:
Robert Palmer, New York Times
WHAT THAT
..bitbing rock 'h' toll playing--he's a wonderful, metallic guitar in the Chuck Berry mold-pleen of solid electric blues as well.
Time Out
"...a stone urban bluesman, a rocker and a song-writer of no small esteem..."
Larry Kent, Chicago Tribune