Universitv Daliv Kansan / Wednesdav Aug. 23. 1989
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Salary gap narrows for many faculty
by Jennifer Metz Kansan staff writer
Entering its second year, the Margin of Excellence has proved beneficial for most University of Kansas faculty, according to a preliminary study.
In a study by the University office of institutional research and planning, recent increases in faculty salaries show hope that by 1991, faculty salaries would match those of KU's peer institutions.
"We have been making progress," said Judith Rathamley, executive vice chancellor. "We are turning around a trend after we hit rock bottom in fiscal year 1988, as faculty salaries were 88.6 percent of our peer schools."
The Margin of Excellence is the Board of Regents three-year plan to bring the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers.
Ramaley said that after the Margain's first year, KU moved back to 90.6 percent of its peer schools, which are universities most like KU in size and curriculum. KU's peer schools are the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Oregon, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Iowa.
Ramaley said that the Margin's highest priority was to provide competitive salary for the Regents faculty.
"It has been the engine for change at this university." Ramaley said.
Ann Weick, dean of the School of Social Welfare, said that there was no question that the Margin had pleased most faculty.
"The Margin has been very important in increasing faculty morale — morale in the sense that financial support helps someone's work." Weikel said.
Although salary levels in the
School of Social Welfare appear low compared to those of the business and law schools, the marketplace dictates what starting salaries will be, said David R. Downing, chairman of aerospace engineering.
Downing also said that funds from the Margin gave departments money to eliminate the salary compression problem. Compression occurs when a new professor is hired at a much higher starting salary than a professor who has been in the department for many years.
This year, close to $9 million will be spent on salary increases for the Regents universities, said Ray Howke, Regents budget director. That is a $2.5 million increase from last year, he said.
"The Margin gives us money to recognize those for their merit and have their salaries consistent with incoming people." Downing said.
"We're not moving up as far as we thought we would. nonetheless, we
are making progress," Howie said. "I think it looks quite hopeful in terms of expression of support from the governor and the legislature."
Howke said that if funds for the third year of the Margin were granted, KU faculty salaries would increase by a percent of the University's peer schools.
"Apparently peer schools have raised more than the usual 5 percent." Burchill said. This 5 percent is required the maintenance portion, he said.
Brower Burchill, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, explained why KU salary levels would not meet those of peer schools.
Burchill also said that the way a salary increases with the Margin was that an additional enhancement portion was added to the maintenance portion, somewhat like a catch-up portion.
Although the Margin has proved beneficial in each school. Bruce
Bublitz, director of accounting for the School of Business said that the Margin had not solved all of their problems.
Bubitz said that aside from Margin funds, an additional $250,000 had been used from vacant lines for salaries, which were dollars used when professors leave the school.
Funds from vacant lines means that a smaller number of professors can get students in needness school, and funds are not available to hire additional professors.
"We've come a long way on salary, and that problem doesn't seem as worse." Bublit said. "But as we solve one problem, we create another one."
Ramaley said that the third year of the Margin would be almost exclusively devoted to salary.
"This is extremely important." Ramaley said. "A good university does require a first-rate faculty."
Audit sought for computer sales at KU
by Julie Mettenburg Kansan staff writer
A state legislative committee has requested an audit of the Kansas Union Bookskeeper' Apple Computer sales records.
The Joint Economic Development Committee requested a study by the legislative post audit division after hearing testimony from local computer vendors who questioned the fairness of the bookstores' competition.
Myles Schachter, owner of Connecting Point computer stores in Lawrence and Manhattan, said the stores' retail computer sales to college students, staff and faculty in both cities dropped 91 percent since the University bookstores began sellin g computer products. 977. Schachter also told the committee he was forced to reduce his staff from 30 employees to 15.
Mike Reid, manager of the Kansas Union Books stores, said the committee informed the bookstores of the post-audit study of computer sales records. He said the records included information about who bought computers from the University, how many were bought by each person and the total number of computers sold.
M9
V e've submitted these records to the Board of Regents in the past. It's fine with us.'
- Mike Reid bookstore manager
"We've submitted these records to the Board of Regents in the past," Reid said. "It's fine with us."
Reid said the bookstores sold 537 Apple computers in 1987-88, and 586 units in 1988-89.
Reid explained that the bookstores sell Apple computers through a higher educational purchase plan, which allows a bookstore to sell the computers for a reduced price to the institution's students, faculty and staff.
Reid said the committee decided to take action against the University, it could limit the bookstores' sales of computers or could establish a committee to look at similar complaints more thoroughly.
Schachter said the computer stores in Lawrence sold 600 to 800 computers each year to KU students and faculty before the bookstores began selling Apples, but that now the local vendors have no university market. He wants the legislative committee to prohibit the university bookstores from selling computers.
"I want the students and faculty to take advantage of the competition between the stores in town," Schachter said. "Let the taxes we pay on the sales go to support the university, instead of Apple."
"I asked for them (the committee) to let us have the program, since we already have IBM training and service, and can provide the same service and the same prices to the students," King said.
Richard King, manager of Computerland, 1414 W. Sixth St., said he requested that the bookstores not be allowed to sell IBM computers.
Reid said the bookstores were examining an IBM higher education program that would provide IBM computers to university students, staff and faculty at a reduced price. He said the University had been negotiating with IBM since 1984, but had not signed an agreement.
King said that if the bookstores were to sell IBMs, no other dealers in town could sell the computers under the higher education program.
Cheryl Hanly/KANSAN
Afternoon delight
Enjoying the last days of summer, Brian Perott, Topeka Junior, Grant Williams, Halstead sophomore, spend the afternoon at Lone Star-
Immunization requirements stiffen
Kansan staff writer
by Steve Buckner Kanean staff writer
An anounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure, but that concept is creating a ton of problems in the health care industry at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
Yockey is in the process of ensuring that all incoming students at KU have proper immunizations so that they are less likely to become an epidemic is eliminated.
This action is part of a national university trend. About 45 percent of U.S. colleges have adopted a similar policy.
The problem is that students have had trouble filling out the paperwork that shows their shots are up to date.
"We've gotten back half of the terms, and those two," he said. "They're really." He said.
Vockey said there were three required shots that covered six diseases. One immunization is for diphtheria and tetanus, a second shot, MMR, gives protection from measles, mumps and rubella, and the third shot is for polio.
"Some students have some but not all of their shots. And others have had inadequate immunizations," he said.
Watkins has received about 2,500 forms. The incorrectly returned forms fall into several categories, Yockey said.
The inadequate shots were given in 1963-67. Yockey has called these vaccines "totally worthless." He also said that being inoculated twice
the students to comply to University requirements. He said students whose immunization records were not complete would have a hold put on their 1980 spring enrollment. This ruling applies to all students who
If I had to pick a group with inadequate immunizations, it would be Chicago. Illinois was one of the last three states to establish immunization requirements for its students.'
would cause no harm to anyone, with the exception of the MMR vaccine, which cannot be given to pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant in the three months following vaccination.
Although Vockey is enduring the problem of collecting up-to-date records, the responsibility shifts to
- Charles Yockey Watkins chief of staff
Students in the shots of immunizations can get the shots at Watkins.
"There is no charge for fee-paying students." Yockey said, referring to the MMR and polio vaccinations.
A nominal fee will be charged for the diobhedral tetanus shots.
were born after 1958
Watkins might not be able to handle the demand for the shots.
"We are limited with the personnel we have to administer the immunizations," he said.
Another concern for Yockey is the possibility of another measles outbreak at KU this year. Although it is not the season for measles, Chicago has had an outbreak of 816 cases as of mid-August. And many KU students are from Chicago.
Yokev said that he was concerned
"If I had to pick a group with inadequate immunizations, it would be Chicago." Yockey said. "Illinois was one of the last three states to establish immunization requirements for its students."
He said there would be a risk whenever a student would visit Chicago because of the recent outbreak.
Kay Kent, administrative health officer of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said that measles had been reintroduced into the state by a case in Reno County, in western Kansas. She said measles were always a possibility, and that her staff had a plan of action ready if a case was reported in Lawrence.
"If we were to get a case here, we will contact people who are contacts in the case, and they would probably need a second shot." Kent said.
KU retirees don't go far to get home
by Tracy Wilkinson Kansan staff writer
Hidden behind Danforth Chapel, nestled within well-tended gardens and blossoming lilac hedges, is a small 10-unit apartment complex reserved for those who have spent many years at KU.
The complex, Sprague Apartments, began in 1900 as an apartment community for those who had no knowledge of writing from the University of Kansas.
Kevin and Sara Shull, managers of Sprague, told of the history of the complex as they turned the pages of the scrapbook that had survived and had been added to year after year.
"
Kevin Shull said, "Her main concern in building the apartments was that, at that time, most of the people who were most dedicated to education were retiring with nothing: no social security, no pension, nothing.
The building was made possible by a donation from Elizabeth Cade Sprague, head of the now defunct home economics department from 1914 to 1941. She donated about $200,000 for the construction of the facility.
It was a big controversy. Dignified teachers were essentially going to the poorhouse. Sprague was set up to give teachers a place to be close to campus and still maintain their standards of
living."
Sprague Apartments manager
- Kevin Shull
Sprague Apartments manager
"It was a big controversy. Dignified teachers were essentially going to the porchouse. Sprague was set up to give teachers a place to be close to campus and still maintain their standards of living."
Its tenants are a select few, and there is a lengthy waiting list to get an apartment. One resident said the would be as long as six to eight years.
"Sprague Apartments are owned, managed and maintained by the Kansas University Endowment Association," Kevin Shull said. "But after all that, it's not really like renting a house or an apartment at all. There is no deposit, and they are free to fix it brow they like."
The residents, ranging in age from 70 to 94, have been members of the faculty or administration at the University.
And thev do.
One resident, Elizabeth Sherbon,
now retired after 15 years as head of
the department of music and dance,
has decorated her apartment with an
organized clutter of books, Oriental-
stencled lamps, and bronze and
copper vases, some filled with peacock feathers.
One striking item in her apartment, aside from the piles of dance manuscripts adorning the coffee table, is a philodendron. It hangs from the ceiling of her apartment, with its two main offshoots winding around in opposite directions. Each offshoot winds around the living, dining, and kitchen areas of the apartment.
Sherbon, who has lived in Sprague for 11 years, said she enjoyed the company of the other residents and the social activities they shared, and their respect for one another's privacy.
The Shulls, both in their early 20s, took over as managers of Sprague in May. Kevin Shull began as manager May 1. After a short vacation to get married and honeymoon, he and his wife began their three-year term as apartment managers.
Sara Shull said, "It's been really nice. I've had the nicest neighbors I've ever had. The first week we moved in they made us cookies. One woman brought us stuffed mushrooms, another took us to dinner at the Alumni Center."
2 of 1,000 students at risk of AIDS, study says
by Stacy Smith
Kansan staff writer
in a national AIDS study of 19 universities that included the University of Kansas, two out of every 1,000 students' blood samples tested at their college health centers were shown to be HIV positive.
Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said the results were not necessarily representative of KU because many students had HIV tests performed at other health centers. Yockey said that the number of students infected with the virus was not alarming.
The samples were collected last fall.
"We only have a small problem at KU," he said. "Hopefully, with education it will continue to be a small problem."
The HIV Seroprevalence Survey, which was funded by the Centers for Disease Control, enlisted the help of 19 universities that represented a
Each university submitted 1,000 anonymous blood specimens for the test. There were 16,881 total specimens in the survey. Watkins Memorial Health Center submitted samples from students who had blood taken between August and November of 1988.
cross section of college students in the United States. The schools included both public and private institutions.
"We collected our specimens in the fall of last year and they were done randomly," Yockey said. "Those were sent in without any names. They weren't identified at all."
Additional surveys will be conducted during the next few years to see if a trend develops at universities. The statistics for the infection rate at KU and for the Midwest were not released to insure confidentiality for the schools involved in the testing.
"No school wanted to know its exact rate," Yockey said. "They were going to do it by region, but some schools didn't have any and some regions only had two schools."
Two years age, the Centers for Disease Control released a study that showed one of 10 college students would have AIDS by 1991. The recent study results, however, did not reflect this trend. Yockey said.
"Fortunately, it's going to be grossly inaccurate," he said. "That was clearly one of the most inaccurate estimates made."
Yockey said that only three students had been diagnosed with AIDS at Watkins since October 1968. All worked to increase student awareness about the deadly disease. Condoms and informational brochures were passed out during spring registration in 1988 and last spring a "Condom Sense Week" was
declared.
Rebecca Newburn, task force chairman said, "I think it's really effective. It generated publicity like nothing else. It made people touch condoms. It made them less foreign. The point is that joking will lead to adult discussion."
"There's been no new high-risk groups identified since late 1983," he said.
Most AIDS cases continue to be in the high risk categories, which include homosexuals and intravenous drug users, Yockey said.
Newburn said that the task force would like to see mandatory AIDS education in the KU curriculum and have one class period in English 101 dedicated to AIDS education. She said trained professionals also could go to organized living groups on campus to present information.
Ann Aller, AIDS counselor and communicable disease nurse at the
Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said five people tested HIV positive in 1987 and in 1988. Allor said 362 people came into the health center for free testing in 1988.
"A large number of them are students, I think," she said. "There are students who come in here because it is anonymous." The Student Senate AIDS Task Force, which was formed two years ago, has people who are really trained to go around and do that." Newburn said. "It could provide the best education possible."
The task force also is working to have condom machines installed on campus, she said.
"There is obviously an increased number of people being diagnosed as positive," she said. "That breaks down the image of the 'ivory tower,' that it can only happen in San Francisco or Kansas City. AIDS is here in Lawrence."