THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
A LITTLE COOLER
KANSAN
Vol.89,No.30
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Friday October 6,1978
Fridav. October 6, 1978
Med Center contractor threatened with legal step
By DAN WINTER
Staff Reporter
A letter sent Wednesday to the general contractor of a building at the University of Kansas Medical Center threatened the company with legal action if it does not correct alleged construction deficiencies within 60 days.
Orr-Major Hall, a classroom and laboratory building at the Med Center, was the subject of the seven-page letter, sent by acting State Architect Vincent Cool to the building's general contractor, Thomas Construction Co. St. Joseph Mo.
Kansas Gov. Robert F. Bennett said at the time of the building's dedication two years ago that Orr-Major was an "outstanding example of the worst piece of construction in the Midwest in the last century."
The letter to the contractor thinks nine supposed problems in construction that Cool thinks the contractor is responsible for.
JAMES THOMAS, a Thomas Co. official, said he was surprised when he received the letter.
"I'm not sure what they're doing." Thomas said. "It's curious because the building has been open and in operation for more than two years and the warranty expired a year ago. However, we'll stand behind any deficiencies."
The letter from Cool cited doors with doors that were hung wrong in the building, glass walls that do not comply with the state law and that fail to meet fire safety standards.
Cool did not return calls or respond to messages left with his office yesterday.
Bernard Gram, another Thomas Co. spokesman, said the letter threatened the company with court action if it did not comply with the law.
According to Gram, the letter said that if the contractor did not remedy the alleged problems within 60 days, another contractor would be hired to make the changes and the matter would be turned over to the state attorney general.
"THE PROBLEMS they mention are not earthshaking," Gram
said. "It is unprecedented as far as we're concerned that they would come up with these things now, two years after the building
Gram and Thomas said they would respond to each point in the letter as soon as they finished studying it.
"We have to determine if the items mentioned in the letter are our contract with the state," Gram said. "Then we'll go to the Med Center and look at the building and see if we can get the repairs done. We'll do the best we can."
Gram said a copy of the letter was sent to 'almost everyone in the state, including the governor, the attorney general, the State House and the Attorney General'.
Orr-Major was the focal point of a 1974 state architectural kickback case in which 24 defendants were indicted for bribery and extortion.
ONLY ONE of those indicted, Norbert Sidorwicz, was found guilty.
Brennett said in 1977 that he thought the plans for the project, prepared by Marsha Brassat, Architectural Firm of Brennett and Mayne, are appropriately designed.
"Somebody ought to be responsible for it." he said.
Staff Reporters
The Thomas Co. and other two contracting firms, Trough Nicols Inc., Kansas City, Kan., and Evans Electrical Construction Co., Kansas City, Mo., won arbitration awards from the state in 1977 and 1978 because they had to use additional money on the building to compensate for inaccurate architectural drawings. The Kansas companies have received paymen-
Last December the state filed suit against the architectural firm for $220,000 to cover damages it said it incurred when it had to repay the contracting firms because of negligence in preparing the designs for the building.
Largest budget request tabled
By MARY ERNST
Members of the Student Senate budget committee last night decided to table deliberations of a $9,000 supplemental request by the University Daily Kansan until an audit of the Kansan's finances can be made.
The Kansan's request, the largest made at the budget hearings, was to be used to help make up an unbudgeted $36,000 increase in the budget to Don Green, Kansan business manager.
Green told the committee Wednesday that unless the money could be made up, the team would have to pay
THE COMMITTEE will make final recommendations on all requests, except
Committee members also deliberated a $700 supplemental request by the Women's Coalition. The request was tentatively cut to $500, and the comment on the Coalition's request will be Sunday.
More than $23,000 is available from Senate unallocated funds and another $6,635 is needed for other projects.
the Student Senate Executive Committee agrees to release the funds.
The budget committee heard requests from 30 groups during the three nights of hearing proposals. The committee deliberated on eight groups requests. Three of those groups received responses, but八 more than $2,000 from $8,500 Requests by the other five groups.
Committee members decided to table the Kansan's request in response to a recommendation by Mike Harper, student body president.
Harpar said he found it alarming that $73,000 in student subscription fees would not guarantee solvency for the Kansan for this fiscal year. In the letter, Harper said the money had been recently deposited in Kansan accounts.
HARPER, IN A letter to Richard Winter, senate treasurer, said he was concerned about possible poor management of Kansan accounts by the University Printing Ser-
Rick Muskert, Kansan general manager, said that to his knowledge the allocation had not been deposited in Kansan accounts. Even if money had been deposited, he said.
it would only be one-half the $73,000 amount because the money collected on a union contract
Committee members said it would not be "possible or fair" to allocate $9,000 to the Kansan when the committee was not aware that that amount would be sufficient.
'WE AREN'T making any accusations yet, we just want to know what's going on,' said Mr. Gershwin.
Greg Schneake, finance and auditing committee chairman, said he was looking
"These are the mega-bucks," he said.
"This will be great."
Committee members also recommended that when the audit was finished, the committee should be re-elected by the entire Senate rather than the budget committee. They said the reason was that it was a fact that the committee
The committee suggested a possible change in the Senate revenue code that would increase the student subscription rate.
The Women's Coalition, a referral service
Ocelot
Ex-prostitute relates experiences
Staff Reporter
By CAROLINE TROWBRIDGE
Ann Brennan, who left prostitution about
Prostitute are attracted to money, but they rarely see much of what they earn, a former Kansas City, Mo., prostitute said last night.
Reagan blasts Democratic party
By ROBERT BEER
Staff Writer
TOPEKA-Ronald Reagan flew in from California yesterday to warm up the campaign for governor. He candidate for the Second District Congressional seat, and incumbent Martha
A crowd of about 500 Jefries supporters gathered in the stands listen to Dixie Lane's band and teenage cheerleaders and watched swirling pompons while waiting for Reagan to arrive.
Speaking to the crowd made up most of teen-agers and retired people, Reagan immediately lashed out at the Carter administration.
"The leadership of the Democratic Party is out of step with the rank-and-file of America," be said, talking very much like a presidential candidate.
JUMPING ON The Proposition 13 band-wagon, he said the Republicans always had believed in cutting taxes. The Democrats had consistently voted down tax cuts before the California proposition was passed last week and now acted as if they had invented it, he said.
Reagan said that 1978 could be the year the Republican Party to add to the number of presidents in office.
Reagan said that Keys should be voted out of office, because she was part of the party in 1982. She used infiltration.
"What we have always believed, the people demand now," he said.
"We can smell it in the air," he said.
Calling expensive social experiments the "moral equivalent of breaking and entering," the former California governor said that people compared pictures of London after the Nazi bombing with areas in U.S. cities after urban renewal.
"The Democrats have declared war on you and we are on your side," he said.
"THERE'S NO WAY that we're going to support a bigger welfare state," the 67-year-old said.
Reagan took a jab at Keys' support of deregulation of natural gas prices, saying that the bill, which calls for complete reform, was unworried in the private marketplace.
"We should get the government off the energy industry's back and turn it loose," he
He said that if the government would leave the energy industry alone, it would have to be done at a much lower cost.
Turning to foreign policy. Reagan said
America could not afford to be second-best to the Soviets.
"While we're trying to prevent a war, we're trying to win one," he said of the war.
Ronald Reagan
Staff photo by RANDY OLSOI
16 months ago, told about 120 people that prostitutes are taken advantage of by their clients.
"Although I heard all of my colleagues talk about when anything happens to you, I don't know if it happens not the way it happens," Brennan said. "Very rarely does the pimp protect the person."
Brennan, who calls herself Ocelot,
became a prostitute when she was 20 years
old and stayed in the business for about four
years.
Breman said she had adopted the name Ocelot because Honey West, a stripper and wife of the late comedian Lenny Bruce, had an ocelot.
ALTHOUGH SHE never was "owned" by a pimp, Brennan said, most prostitutes think pimps are necessary and even glamorous.
"As far as pimps are concerned, the woman feel that it is their duty as a woman to provide the man with anything he wants," he said. "I'll see you at next week and get these bunks she's not anything without a man."
She said it was a combination of money, glamor and insecurity that made women feel safe.
"There is a myth that most women are into prostitution because of drugs," she said. "And in some cases, we have prostitution for a long time, say until she is 25 or 26, it's because she has a habit to drink."
However, Brennan said most prostitutes could not afford a drug habit because pimpies
Because of emotional and physical
stresses, there are not many prostitutes who are older than 25.
BRENNAN SAID that although it was not common in Kansas City, she did have qualms about young women entering prostitution.
"I'd just tell him," she said. "I'm not ashamed of it. There are some things I regret about it. I'd just tell him and I don't think there's anything more I could do."
"Kiddie lib notwithstanding, I don't think a 12-year-old girl is mature enough to wear high heels."
"Your best years on the street are from 18 to 22," she said. "After 26, if you've been on the street consistently all this time, it's really gotten to you."
She said she also did not know many customers who were young boys.
She said she would answer honestly any of her son's questions about her background.
"Most of the customers that I've seen are white, middle-class and chubby," she said.
Brennan said it also was couronn for a group of college students to approach him.
Brennan, who is divorced and has a five-year-old son, grew up in Kansas City, Mo., was a protiege in the city and now attends school there.
IN ADDITION to arrest, prostitutes have to worry about pregnancy, Brennan said. She added that most prostitutes use oral contraceptives.
However, prostitutes do get pregnant and they have to make a decision as any other.
"Some prostitutes I knew had guilt feelings about abortion and were out on the street until their ninth month because they didn't believe in abortion," she said.
The University of Kansas' provisional membership in Associated Students of Kansas became final last night when the Senate voted 23-9 in favor of the proposal.
ASK membership granted
Fort Hays is the last of six ASK member
hospitals to approve KU's membership in the
Jeff Seibel, Fort Hays State student body president, said debate on the issue centered on the representation KU would receive in ASK versus the money it would pay to join.
"Cost was the reason some senators opposed," it seetled. "But other senators
said the benefits outweigh the disadvantages in the long run."
If KU paid the entire membership fee, it would be about $10,000.
KU's membership also is subject to the approval of the legislative assembly. The assembly is expected to approve KU's membership at its meeting next week.