Weather
The University Daily Kansan
Today: Partly cloudy with a high of 65 and a low of 39.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy with a high of 57 and a low of 43.
Sunday: Rain with a high of 54 and a low of 42.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Friday, November 03, 2000
Sports: Kansas senior fullback Moran Norris will return to the Jayhawks' lineup tomorrow against Nebraska after nursing an ankle injury.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: Civil war in Sierra Leone have led to physical mutilation of civilians
[USPS 650-640] • VOL. 111 NO. 49 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Med center reps say clinic's move possible
By Melissa Davis
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Public relations representatives for the University of Kansas Medical Center acknowledged yesterday that its primary care clinics could move from their current locations. They denied, however, suggestions by several Med Center employees that the clinics would move to Johnson County.
Gary Bachman, assistant professor of family medicine, and another professor, who requested anonymity for fear of losing his job, said earlier this week they had been notified by hospital administration about a potential move of the family medicine and obstetrics and gynecology clinics away from Wyandotte County.
The clinics are housed at the Med Center in Kansas City, Kan., and could be moved because the center is bringing in a cardiac transplant team from St. Luke's Health System of Kansas City, Mo.
Bachman said he was concerned that a move away from the Med Center would hurt the Med
Center's credibility, students and patients. He said patients from Wyandotte County — who make up the majority of the Med Center's clients — would be harmed by the move since many rely on public transportation and wouldn't be able to get to Johnson County.
But Dennis McCulloch, director of public relations for the Med Center, said there had been no final discussions about where or if the clinics would be moved. He echoed a statement made Wednesday by Mary Ball, vice president of public relations and marketing, about rumors of the move being false.
"We were saying yesterday it was not true," McCulloch said. "We are saving today it's not true."
He said that although the Med Center was bringing in a cardiac transplant team, it was unclear where the team would be placed. But the family medicine and obstetrics and gynecology clinics certainly will not be moved to Johnson County, he said.
"It was never an option not to be in Wyandotte County," he said.
Lynn Bretz, interim director for University Relations, declined to comment yesterday. Chancellor Robert Hemenway could not be reached for comment, and Donald Hagen, executive vice chancellor, did not return phone calls.
Chris Hansen, vice president for ambulatory service at the Med Center, could not be reached for comment yesterday but said in a written statement that it was regretful that inaccurate and incomplete information from a few sources had given rise to unjustified concerns about family medicine at the Med Center.
"KU Med is always reviewing space allocations throughout the hospital in order to meet patient care needs," he said. "Both the hospital and the University are discussing with family medicine physicians ways to broaden their reach and patient base. These have only been preliminary discussions, and no decisions have been made."
Hansen added that the Med Center was committed to the needs of the community, family medicine and primary care, and its students and resident physicians.
- Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
Double vision
Yesterday's mild weather greets Andrea Walton, Sterling junior, as she leaves Spencer Research Library on her way to class. The weekend's temperatures are expected to reach almost 60 degrees, drying up the Wednesday's rain. Photo by Thad Allender/KANSAN
Photographs of Gore with Fred Phelps circulate
Fred Phelps, Tipper Gore, Betty Phelps and Al Gore pose for this picture. Fred Phelps said he was no longer registered as a Democrat because Gore now supports gay rights. Photo contributed to the Kansas
By Kursten Phelps
writer@kansan.com
Kursten.shell writer
By Kursten Phelps
Photographs of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore with Topeka anti-gay rights activist Fred Phelps are circulating via email, but some say the photos are likely just a late campaign-season tactic to smear Gore.
The photos show the vice president with Phelps at a 1988 fundraising campaign at his son's home in Topeka. Phelps said he was a registered Democrat and supported Gore in his 1988 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, but no longer did because Gore now supported gay rights.
"He told me personally he was opposed to the homosexual agenda on strong Bible grounds," Phelps said. "He was very articulate in opposing gay rights, and now he's the poster boy for gay rights. He's just about spun on a dime."
rights demonstrations — including protesting the funerals of homosexuals — in Kansas and across the nation.
campaign did not return phone calls yesterday.
Phelps is known for his anti-gay
Phelps, who was a Kansas delegate with Fred Phelps, Jr. to the 1988 Democratic National
Fred Phelps, left, and Al Gore, center, gather at a fund-raiser at Phelps's son's home in Topeka in 1988. Photo contributed to the Kansan
Convention, said about 200 people including former Gov. Joan Finney and Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, attended the fund-raising campaign where the pictures were taken.
He also said that his family and members of his Westboro Baptist Church provided accommodations for 15 to 20 of Gore's campaign workers in the summer of 1988.
Burdett Loomis, professor of political science, said he didn't think the photos were a big deal, given the context.
"This is before his serious, off-the-deep-end, gay-bashing days," Loomis said. "Joan Finney is in the photo, so clearly she considered him at least vaguely acceptable."
He said the circulation of the photos was more interesting than the photos themselves.
"They're doing it without attribution to trash Gore," Loomis
said.
Michael Young, KU Young Democrats vice president, said Gore's connection with Phelps would not influence his support for Gore.
"I do not believe that this allegation, if found to be true, makes an impact now because I don't believe it's true in the year 2000," he said. "I'd be surprised, but if it was true, then people are allowed
to change their views over time.
to change their views over time.
"I'm not going to penalize people if they come around to see that a more diverse viewpoint is better. There's only so far you can blame someone for past attitudes and discretions."
— Editor's note: Though the author of this story shares a last name with Fred Phelps, the two are not related.
- Edited by J. R. Mendoza
www.napster.com
Napster devours bandwidth breaks law, KU officials say
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
By Jason Krahl
While the popular program does have some valuable educational uses, especially transferring noncopyrighted material for study in the School of Music, most Napster users don't abide by federal laws governing the transfer of copyrighted material, said Marilu Goodyear, vice chancellor for information services.
Napster is by far the largest contributor to the bandwidth shortage in student housing networks, KU officials say.
Many who download copyrighted music off Napster and similar services are in violation of the federal No Electronic Theft (NET) Act of 1997. The act makes it a criminal offense to reproduce or distribute copyrighted material worth more than $1,000 retail value. While some older music is
Napster allows users to download free music in MP3 files directly from one another's hard drives.
no longer copyrighted because of its age, most new, popular music that students download is copyrighted, Goodyear said.
But in September, Oklahoma State University made headlines when campus police there seized a student's computer and accused him of distributing copyrighted music.
"Our focus is on state law and city ordinances," he said. "When you start getting into federal statutes, it becomes somebody else's ball game."
Sgt. Troy Mailen of the KU Public Safety Office said the office had not investigated students distributing music through Napster because federal agencies such as the FBI were responsible for enforcing the laws of the NET Act.
The law likely will not be enforced until law enforcement agencies feel pressure from the recording industry, Goodyear said. But violators face up to three years in prison for a first offense.
A number of colleges and universities have banned Napster, some using firewall systems to block its use. Kansas State University banned the program last year. A survey by the Gartner Group research firm earlier this year found that 34 percent of colleges and universities have
program.
Shelley
Lappin
Wichita freshman and
Ellsworth
Hall resident,
said she
would rather
banned the
see the University limit Internet downloads and other high bandwidth uses than charge some students more. She said that she used the service only occasionally and that students in her residence hall might be divided on the two ideas.
"I think it's about fifty-fifty," she said. "Some would be upset about having to pay more, and some will be upset that they can't download all the music they want."
Edited by Clay McCuistion
Officials try to limit residents from excessive downloading
Internet fee still under question
By Jason Krall
writer@kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
Limiting Internet use and charging students extra for excessive downloading are on a list of ideas for curbing the increasing costs of Internet access in campus housing after the Student Housing
Advisory Board rejected a plan to raise Internet fees last month.
The board voted unanimously against charging students a $37 fee per semester if their hall is scheduled for rewiring of their building's computer network. McCollum and Oliver halls would have received upgrades first under the proposal.
Internet connections in campus housing have doubled in cost this year — to $90 — as the University attempts to keep up with the cost of heavy Internet use from Napster and other digital music services. Administrators still are considering an increase in the access fee, which could bring it to about $120.
The entire proposal would have cost about $2.5 million, said Michael Hevel, president of the Association of University Residence Halls and a voting member of the advisory board.
"It doesn't solve the problem." Hevel said. "We were voting to have people pay $2.5 million, but it wasn't a full plan."
"At this point, we're just asking students to be aware that this is not an unlimited resource."
Marilu Goodyear vice chancellor for information services
The ResNet Advisory Board, which oversees Internet connections in student housing, will prepare a new proposal.
Now, administrators are considering other options to keep the high cost of heavy Internet use in residence halls, Jayhawker Towers, Stouffer Place and scholarship halls from being passed on to students who use their connections moderately or very little.
Bills to the University from Internet service providers Sprint Co. and Qwest, Inc. continue to grow, thanks in large part to massive downloads from Internet music outlets such as Napster, said Marilu Goodyear, vice chancellor for information services.
One idea is to cap the bandwidth available to students so that if too much of it is being used, connections will slow and eventually stop. Goodyear said. In another scenario, students who perform large downloads would be identified as "super-users," and charged an additional fee for their use.
"At this point, we're just asking students to be aware that this is not an unlimited resource," she said.
— Edited by Clay McCuistion
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