THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.100, NO.15 (USPS 650-640)
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
FRIDAY SEPT.15,1989
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Gunman kills 7 co-workers in Louisville
SOURCES: Interviews with Standard-Gravure employees, AP, Lex. Herald Leader
Rampage in Louisville printing plant
A disgruntled print shop employee went on a shooting rampage that left seven former co-work
gunman dead. Here is the approximate path Jose Weesbecker took through the Standard
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man with an assault rifle mowed down coworkers as he went from floor to floor "looking for bosses" at a printing plant yesterday, killing seven people and wounding 13 before taking his own life.
The gumman, Joseph T. Wesbecker, had been on permanent disability and was described by Police Chief Richard Dotson as a disgruntled employee. One worker called him paranoid and said he had a fixation wii guns.
"I told them I'd be back. Get out of my way, John. I told them I'd be back." Wesbecker took fellow Standard-Gravure Co. employee John Tingle, who approached him before the shooting began.
fear," Abramson said. "He didn't been shot, but he was in shock."
"I said, 'How are you, Rock?'"
Tingle recalled. "He said, 'Fine', John. Back off and get out of the way to be well.'"
Five of the wounded were in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds, hospital officials said. One person who was not wounded suffered a heart attack and was taken to a hospital.
... all the way to the wan.
Tingle and other employees nearby
then ran into a bathroom and locked
the door.
Police searched every floor of the three-story Standard-Gravure building for victims. Two were found as officers led Mayor Jerry Abramson through the building, adjacent to The Courier-Journal newspaper.
Travels along hallway toward bindery shooting more employees along the way.
"We also found a fellow sitting in a corner who was just shuddering in
2 Makes way to third floor.
5 Enters bindery and shoots several co-workers. Leaves third floor for basement.
"It it looks like a battle zone . . . with the blood and the people involved there," Abramson said. "There were bodies lying across staircases. It was just frightening."
8 Breaks down door to lunch room. Shoots more employees.
6 Travel through basement tunnel to section of building leased from Courier-Journal Shoots several people there
9 Returns to press room and shoots himself with 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
7 In first floor press area shoots several more prople.
Wesbecker entered the building at 8:30 a.m. with a duffel bag, an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol. He also carried six to eight ammunition rounds, each holding about 25 rounds, Dotson said.
Wesbecker took an elevator to third-floor offices, pulled the rifle out of his bag and opened fire, police and witnesses said.
"He was up there looking for bosses," Tingle said. "He couldn't find any of the bosses and couldn't find any of the supervisors. He was just in too deep to turn back. So he just shot anything that was close to him."
3 Shoots several employees in reception area.
Wesbester worked his way down-tairs, randomly shooting people
"He was loaded for bear," Dotson said. It was unclear how many shots he fired from the AK-47, the same type of weapon used by a man who killed five school children in Stockton, Calif., in January.
Wesbecker enters Standard-Gravure building from Sixth St. carrying AK-47 and duffel bag containing weapons and ammunition.
Knight-Ridder Tribune News/BILL BAKER and PAUL SOUTAP
along the way. "He eventually ended up in a pressroom in an annex area, which is where he killed himself," Dotson said.
"I thought it was firecrackers going off," said Bud Graser, a pressman. "When I saw what it was, I turned around and told everybody to get out of there."
Ed Green, a supervisor in the plant's stching room, said he heard at least 20 shots. "I saw two (victims) and then I got out," Green said. Dotson described Wesbecker, 47, as a disgruntled employee of Standard-Gravure, which prints newspaper inserts and Sunday newspaper supplements. He was on permanent disability, although the nature of his disability was not immediately known.
Company President Michael Shea, who apparently was not in the building at the time, could not immediately be reached for comment.
A police officer who knew Wesbecker told Dotson the man had been "argumentative and confrontational for a number of years."
"This guy's been talking about this for a year," said Joe White, a Standard-Gravure employee. "He's been talking about guns and Soldier of Fortune magazine. He's paranoid
See SHOOTING, p. 6
Assessment tells story of dropouts
By Kate Lee
Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA, Kan. — Better high school preparation would aid students in college math courses, Del Brinkman, vice chancellor for academic affairs, told the Board of Regents yesterday.
A report on basic skills assessment at the University of Kansas reveals a 50 percent dropout rate in the University's basic math courses, said Martine F. Hammond, director of academic affairs for the Regents. A university committee will continue to study the problem.
The preparation that high school students bring to the University is highlighted by the problems they face in high quality skills courses, Brinkmap said.
He said work was being done on a program to test high school students before they entered college. The program is designed to find and correct problems that students have with math.
"I think that the assessment program is working to the extent that it is calling further attention to something that we are hoping to address at an earlier stage," Brinkman said.
The program's goal is to encourage students to take more math courses before they enter college, he said.
Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, said the problems students had with the KU math courses were common to colleges and universities nationwide.
"There is direct evidence that the
See REGENTS, p. 5
Lecturer emphasizes individuals in business 'Take joy in labor,' Deming tells crowd
By Steve Buckner Kansan staff writer
He may be a consultant to industries and an expert statistician, but people were the primary focus of W. Edwards Deming's speech yesterday.
restoration of individuals" was the three-word message that he said he wanted to emphasize to a capacity crowd of 1,500 people at the Kansas Union ballroom. The speech was part of the Kenneth Spencer Memorial Lecture Series.
Deming, 88, said he would stand businesses and the U.S. educational system on its collective ear should he prevail in his goal of restoring the individual.
Stevey GorevKANSAN
Deming uses a visual aid to emphasize his thoughts on business
His restructuring methods reflect a common-sense simplicity that refute most everything taught and practiced in the United States, he said.
Deming said the basis of his work was for the individual to take joy in his labor and learning.
"We've choked that off," he said of individual enjoyment. "There have been forces at work for decades. We follow mythology and false gods."
Deming said that these forces created fear, self-defense, competition and humiliation. He illustrated his point by telling of a 6-year-old girl who had come home from school in tears.
Deming said the elements that crushed the individual included grading in school, competitive school athletics, the merit system, incentive pay for performance, management by objectives and daily production quotas.
tell "Why does somebody always have to win?" Deming said, echoing the girl's cry.
"Why can't we play for them? We lose lesions, we lose forces," deemed said. "Deming said."
'Why can't we play for fun?
However, the loses from the U.S. trade deficit can be measured, and the picture has worsened for decades, he said. Part of the deficit problem could be linked to the quality of U.S. products.
Quality has been the cornerstone of Doming's work. He was assigned by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to help rebuild post-war Japan and succeeded by stressing product quality through statistical control.
The elements that crush the individual include grading in school, competitive school athletics, the merit system, incentive pay for performance, management by objectives and daily production quotas.
—W. Edwards Deming
— Business consultant
Since 1951, the Japanese have awarded the Deming Prize to individuals for accomplishments in statistical theory and to companies for achievement in statistical analysis. Deming is virtually unknown in the United States until he was featured in a 1980 television special on U.S. industrial problems.
"Our problem is quality," Deming said, pointing to the answer and that's the problem.
He listed automation, new machinery, computers and best efforts as elements that people say will lead to higher quality. He said all these things were good but insufficient. What is needed, Deming said, is profound knowledge.
Deming said the key points of profound knowledge were the study of variation, which was inescapable, and an understanding of the theory of knowledge.
"There is no substitute for knowledge or profound knowledge," he said repeatedly.
KU is among the many converts that Deming has won over during the 1980s. The School of Business has required "Operations Analysis," a class which uses Deming's "Out of the Crisis" as its text, for its master's and masters program, said Steven Hillier, professor of business
"I think the students like the course because it is very different, and it makes them think about things." Hillmer said. "Students tell me, 'All you've done is frustrate me,' because it smacks in the face that what companies are doing isn't right.'"
"There is no knowledge without theory." he said.
Art community supports House decision on grants
By Liz Hueben and Tracy Wilkinson Kanean staff writers
Members of the Lawrence art community were pleased yesterday with the U.S. House of Representatives' continued financing all forms of art.
The House Wednesday rejected a proposal by Sen. Jesse Helms, R.N.C., to restrict financing of the National Endowment for the Arts.
These restrictions also would have applied to art that "denigrates the objects or beliefs of . . . a particular religion or non-religion or . . . a person, group or class of citizen or
Helms proposed restrictions that would have withheld federal subsidies and prohibited taxpayer financing of "obscene or indecent material."
the basis of race, creed, sex, handican or national origin."
Andrea Norris, director of the Spencer Museum of Art, said the censorship issue had put a cloud over the entire art business.
"We've been having a lot of discussion on this lately," she said. "I don't see any need for changing the system for deciding who gets NEA grants. It is an extremely dangerous idea for the arts in general to pass a bill with such broad restrictions."
Gary Smith, president of the Lawrence Art Guild, said he was overjoyed that Congress decided not to support Helms and his vocal minority.
"It is understandable that some groups of people could be offended by some art forms," Smith said. "But artists and art groups should judge this art, not government officials.
Smith said that of the total number of projects financed by the NEA, only a minute percentage was found to be controversial after being approved at the local, state and national levels.
Art students Dawn Brown, Overland Park junior, and Keith Brums, Topea senior, were both in favor of Congress' decision.
Brown said, "I'm glad they rejected that proposal. It should be up to each individual organization to decide if they want to display art or not. It's their choice and the artist's choice. That is their right."
"Even at this level there are people who get offended by some artwork. They don't understand the context in which it was done," Bruns said.
Inmates learn self-sufficiency
Kansas State Penitentiary teaches prisoners trades and skills
By Derek Schmidt Kansan staff writer
LANSING - The Kansas State Penitentiary is a diverse, almost self-sufficient community.
The prison includes the expected maximum, medium and minimum security holding areas. But its 2,533 acres hold more than cell blocks.
"Think of it as a city," said Rudy Stupar, deputy director of operations. "Everything you find in a city you're going to find here."
The prison has its own water and sewage treatment plants, a hospital and a police force of about 470 uniformed officers. Stupar said.
unarmed
Prison officials yesterday invited the media to tour the facility, which has about 1,825 inmates.
Inmates who work at prison jobs, with daily wages ranging from 45 cents to just less than $2, deposit their earnings in the inmate banking system because they are not allowed to have cash. They then use that credit to purchase items from the store on the prison grounds.
Most prison jobs are filled by inmates. Grounds crews in orange uniforms mow grass, rake leaves and tend the flower gardens in the medium security area. Inmates in white uniforms prepare meals for inmates, staff and visitors.
"Easy hands are happy hands," he said.
Some inmates farm. They operate
Industries at the prison teach inmates skills that can be marketed in the outside world.
Inmates no longer manufacture license plates; that now is done at the Kansas School for the Blind, Stupar said. But prisoners do other work.
"It's hard to find an industry that you can put in a prison," Stupar said. "If it's safe, it's generally done by civilians, and they don't want us to compete with them."
immates can learn heating and aircondition repair, masonry, sheetmetal work, welding and other trades. Lucas said the prison encouraged inmates to work.
They manufacture the paint used on roads in Kansas and make road signs for the state, Stupar said. Wooden nameplates on the desks of state employees, including Gov. Mike Hayden's, were made at the prison, officials said. Inmates also build and upholster chairs and other furniture that is sold to state and non-profit agencies.
Sixty inmates work on furniture, a decline from about 100 inmates six months ago, said Bill Lucas, public information officer. The result has been a labor shortage and a backlog of orders.
a 20-acre truck farm and feed cattle and hogs on the prison grounds. The livestock then is shipped to a processing plant in Oskaloosa. Inmates are bussed there to process the meat, which is used to feed the prisoners, Stupar said.
Virtually all of the inmates who work in the prison industries are held in the medium security area. That area, which now holds 98 inmates, is in buildings built about five years ago, Lucas said. Prisoners are classified as minimum, medium or maximum security based on a classification of points accumulated for discipline problems.
Behind the guard towers, chain link fences, razor wire and electronic security doors in the medium security area, inmates have two basketball courts, a tennis court, a volleyball net, a horseshoe pit, a baseball diamond, outdoor weightlifting facilities and pay telephones, from which they can make collect calls.
A recreation building houses a basketball court with folding bleachers, racquetball courts, a weight room and a small theater where inmates gather for convocation or to watch movies.
Profits from the prison store pay recreation expenses, said Michael
See PRISON, p. 8