Kansan
Weather
**Today:** Showers with a high of 70 and a low of 59.
**Tomorrow:** T-Storms with a high of 74 and a low of 57.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Monday, October 23, 2000
Sports: The Kansas football team came up with a big 23-15 homecoming win against Colorado Saturday. SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: Informational events abound for sexual violence awareness week.
SEE PAGE 3A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 40 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Pay increase rate unfair, staffers say
By Jason Krall
writer@kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
The University of Kansas recommends an 8.2 percent faculty pay increase by 2002, but some KU staff could be left out of the deal.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway has recommended that the Kansas Board of Regents request the increase for fiscal year 2002. But more than 700 members of KU's Unclassified Professional Staff Association are not included in the proposal.
The group receives a lower percentage increase than teaching faculty. Members received a 2.5 percent pay increase last year, while faculty got a 5.9 percent increase, said Sandra Wick, president of UPSA and associate director of the University Honors Program.
"Topeka will say that we're administration and not directly involved in the mission of the University," Wick said. "We're trying to make the case that we are."
UPSA members included University administrators, program and department directors, many of whom teach at least one course, Wick said. They also included researchers in programs like the Kansas Geological and Biological surveys, she said.
Hemenway's proposal would increase his salary because he is a teaching professor of English, Wick said.
Hemenway's salary is $207,489 this fiscal year, and would increase to $224,503 if the Legislature approves the 8.2 percent increase.
UPSA members and faculty members, referred to collectively as unclassified staff, are paid through the Board of Regents. Wick said she hoped to meet with Duane Goossen, state director of the budget, to discuss including UPSA members in the pay increase.
Classified staff includes maintenance staff members, who are paid directly out of the state budget.
SALARY INCREASES
Mike Auchard, president of Classified Senate and general
What's happening: Chancellor Robert Hememway is proposing an 8.2 percent salary increase for faculty. The pay raise would not include some administrators and researchers, known as unclassified professional staff.
What it means: If approved by the Kansas Board of Regents and the State Legislature, the raise would go into effect in 2002.
What's next: Administrators hope to convince state officials to include unclassified professional staff across the state in the staff, including more than 700 KU staff members.
maintenance and repair technician, said that the state's direct control of classified staff made it hard for the chancellor and the regents to influence the size of their raise. But classified staff should receive the same percentage increases as unclassified staff, he said.
"We don't think our 2.5 percent is fair, equitable or even reasonable," Auchard said. "But whatever raises we get are the same as those for all the workers in the state civil service system."
Hemenway told University Council in a meeting two weeks ago he had asked the Board of Regents to push the 8.2 percent increase in the spring legislative session. The pay increase would make KU faculty salaries comparable to those at peer research universities, he said.
"We're trying to get faculty salaries caught up with what our peer institutions are," Hemenway said. "Right now, we're near the bottom of the list of the major research universities in this country."
The proposed increase is supported by a law, passed in May 1999, to redefine the authority of the Board of Regents. The bill increased state funding for faculty salaries by about $26 million over the next four years.
Parading in paradise
— Edited by John Audlehelm
Members of Theta Chi cruise down Jayhawk Boulevard Friday afternoon during the homecoming parade. Theta Chi and Kappa Kappa Gamma placed second for floats with moving parts. Photo by Justin Schmidt/KANSAN
Abortion pill sources will be limited
Bv Meahan Bainum
By Meghan Bainum
write @kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Instead of having to dodge protesters at abortion clinics, women could receive RU-486 from private gynecologists.
The approval of the abortion pill mifepristone — known as RU-486 — was supposed to give women a private way to end their pregnancies.
But in Lawrence, as well as other Kansas communities, it appears women will have few choices of where to get RU-486.
A representative for Kristin Neuhaus, the only abortion provider in Lawrence, said Neuhaus planned to prescribe RU-486 from her clinic at 205 W. Eighth St.
but women who want to get the pill still will have to deal with protesters who regularly gather outside the clinic, said Mike Caddell, security chief for Neuhaus. He said new protesters had been showing up since the approval of RU-486 was announced.
Michele Carlson, medical assistant for Lawrence gynecologist Stephen L. Viierthaler, 346 Maine St., said Viierthaler did not plan to prescribe the drug.
According to the Federal Drug Administration, doctors who prescribe RU-486 must meet certain qualifications such as the ability to date pregnancies accurately with ultrasound equipment and the ability to provide surgical abortion procedures if the pill does not work correctly.
RU-486 causes abortions by blocking the action of progesterone, a hormone needed to support pregnancy. Three visits are necessary to complete the procedure. During the first visit, a woman would take three mifepristone pills by mouth. Two days later, if the woman were still pregnant, she would take a different pill to induce contractions. If medical abortion has not occurred 12 days after the second visit, a surgical abortion would be required.
Though Watkins will not be offering RU 486, Rock said physicians there would counsel students about its use.
"As we inform students about options with regards to their personal health, that will be part of the discussion," Rock said. "Our responsibility is to inform people
See PRESCRIPTION on page 5A
Marijuana use higher at colleges
By Melissa Davis
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Ryan Walters is an engineering student with good grades. Walters, Lawrence senior, leads a normal college life — a life of studying, going to class and, like many other students nationwide using marrijuana.
According to a recent National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, marijuana use among college-aged students 18 to 25 years old has increased 28 percent during the last two years, and many KU students fit the statistic.
Nick, a Lenexa sophomore who refused to give his last name because of legal consequences associated with the drug, said he was not surprised by the new statistic.
According to Do It Now, a national health education organization, marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States and in most of the rest of the world. The group's 1998 national study found that more than 71 million Americans had tried marijuana, and about 11 million used it regularly — and those numbers are rising.
"There is an increase because it is the best stress reliever," he said. "I bet around finals, the whole campus is lighting up."
And another study supports Nick's prediction.
Walters said he thought the number was rising because people were realizing the propaganda associated with the drug.
"Prohibitions are historically ineffective." he said. "Organizations use fear to try to stop marijuana because it is
Marijuana use by students on campuses is on the rise, according to a recent poll taken by the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. The survey claims that marijuana use by college students aged 18 to 25 has increased 28 percent during the past two years. Photo illustration by Anra Lundberg/KANSAN
Nick said he thought marijuana was popular because people were more likely to grow dependent on other drugs and pot was a "safer" alternative to other legal drugs.
their only weapon. But people are realizing that it's not addictive."
"I have never heard someone overdosing on pot, but you hear of people
But many students might be overlooking the consequences of the drug. According to educational promotions from Watkins Memorial Health Center on marijuana, the complications associated with the drug include impaired driving, reduced sperm count, lack of motivation and memory impairment.
dying from Valium, alcohol and getting lung cancer from nicotine all the time," he said.
But Walters said any drug, including legal drugs, could have consequences if used improperly.
Paul Brown, Overland Park junior, said he knew people that didn't smoke cigarettes but did smoke pot because it was easier on their bodies. He said he thought that cigarette smoking was worse than marijuana and that cigarettes maybe even contributed to its popularity.
"I personally think smoking pot isn't as bad as cigarette smoking because pot smokers usually don't chain smoke," Brown said.
"There is a huge stigma attached to illegal drugs, especially marijuana." Walters said. "This stereotype is supplied by the mass media to say drugs are the root of the problem. Marijuana doesn't create issues, people create issues."
Gerry Riley, counselor at DCCCA, a Lawrence drug rehabilitation center, said American culture scapegoated behavior on substances rather than personal actions.
"Our culture is different in the U.S. We try to make drugs the problem, not the behavior." Riley said. "There is nothing wrong with feeling good, but if a person is so out of it, that's irresponsible."
— Edited by J. R. Mendoza
Renovations would include expanded social, study areas
By Matt Merkel-Hess writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A computer lab, a convenience store with coffee and a redesigned lounge will be added during winter break, said Pat Beard, associate director of the Kansas and Burge unions.
Clattering keyboards and study groups all swirled in the aroma of coffee will be available at the Kansas Union next semester.
The changes are being made to offer students a central location for studying and to make the Union a destination point. 24-hour service for the lab and a convenience store were under consideration, Beard said.
"We're looking to give students another option where they don't have to necessarily go downtown," he said. "We want to be a place where people want to and need to go." Plans for the unions include:
A fourth-floor computer lab with 35 to 40 stations will occupy the current location of the Kansas Union's business offices, which will move to the third floor.
- The information and candy counter will be expanded into a convenience store with more grab-and-go items, coffee and possibly Javahk clothing.
The Kansas Union lobby will be redecorated to create a more comfortable atmosphere. Beard said data ports could be added in the future so students with laptops could
A convenience store will be added to the Burge Union Bookstore at the currently unused east entrance. The convenience store will have later hours than the bookstore.
What happened: A computer lab and a convenience store will be added to the fourth floor of the Kansas Union. The food court and lobbies will also be renovated. A convenience store will also be added in the Burge Union.
What it means: Students will have another study option on campus, which could possible be open 24 hours.
UNION RENOVATIONS
What happens next: The computer lab and convenience stores will be added during winter break, and should be ready by the beginning of the spring semester.
Beard estimated the renovation projects, which will be paid for by the unions' operating budget, would cost between $200,000 and $250,000.
use the lobby
Jim Breckenridge, Waterville sophomore, was working on a group project in the Kansas Union lobby yesterday. Breckenridge said he typically ordered pizza and studied in his residence hall room or went to coffee shops, but expanded services at the Union would be beneficial to students.
The Kansas Union's third-floor food court also will be renovated for the first time in 12 years. More lighting and new food options will be added, but final plans have not been made.
"The Union is a good place to study because it's a central location for students," he said.
Breckenridge, a resident assistant at Oliver, said he noticed many freshmen were unaware of the computer labs on campus, and the unions would be visible alternatives to studying in the residence halls.
---