DREARY
Weather
The University Daily Kansan
Today: Cloudy skies with a high of 60 and a low of 40.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy with a high of 55 and a low of 25.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Thursday, October 5, 2000
Jayplay: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch whiskey has a distinct flavor — and price.
Sports: The volleyball team lost 3-0 to Kansas State in Manhattan last night, 15-6. 17-15, 15-13.
(USPS 650-640) VOL.111 NO.28 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Cool weather takes students by surprise
Special to the Kansan
By Luke Wetzel
"Why the hell does it have to be so cold?" Jeff Brodie yelled, tilting his head back to exhale cigarette smoke into the offending gray sky: Brodie, Prairie Village freshman, folded his arms across his T-shirt yesterday while standing outside the Kansas Union, shivering and waiting for class to start.
"It's cold, cloudy and there's a cold breeze," he said. "I don't particularly like cold breezes."
The University of Kansas may have gotten its first taste of winter yesterday, as temperatures dropped into the mid-50s. The National Weather Service predicts a
"I knew several people who went home to change," said Kim Fuchs, Merriam senior.
Greg Wiley, who was wearing shorts at three in the afternoon, was not one of those people.
nigh of 60 today, with gusty winds and a 60 percent chance for showers. By the end of the week, temperatures will be even colder, with a low of 25 degrees predicted for tomorrow night and Saturday night.
"It was like 95 degrees yesterday, and now it's cold," said Wiley, Westwood junior. "I just wish the weather would
Brodie was not the only student caught off guard by yesterday's cool temperatures. Students across campus appeared underdressed for the abrupt cold.
Fuchs, however, said she loved the cool weather.
make up its mind."
"I'm a winter baby," she said. "I love bundling up and going on campus and watching the leaves change color."
watching the leaves change so
By Tuesday, temperatures are predicted
to be back in the 60s, but there's no relief
in sight for the weekend.
The cold forecast is reminiscent of the Kansas State football team's visit to Lawrence two years ago — a dismal Halloween afternoon when K-State handed Kansas a 54-6 loss, and Mother Nature brought heavy rain and near-freezing temperatures. No rain is predicted for Saturday when the Wildcats play the Jayhawks at Memorial Stadium, but cold
temperatures have been forecast.
important. While the Jayhawks prepare to face the Wildcats on Saturday, the American Automobile Association said students could begin preparing for cold-weather driving. The AAA Web site suggests testing car batteries before winter to make sure they'll last, making sure antifreeze is mixed with an equal portion of water and exercising caution when braking in freezing weather. The Web site also suggests using a defroster and an ice scraper to counteract fogged and frosted windows.
Despite yesterday's harbinger of the cold season, concerns about preparing vehicles for winter and stiff Big 12 Conference football competition, some students found comfort in the cool wind and clouds.
EXTENDED FORECAST
Today: High of 60, with gusty winds and a 60 percent chance for showers.
Saturday: Cold and dry, with a low of 25 degrees and a high of 50.
Friday: Cold and partly cloudy, with a high of 55 degrees.
Monday: Warming temperatures, with a predicted high of 65 degrees.
Source: The National Weather Service
"I immediately felt better about my life because the world looked worse," said Stephen Davis, Topeka junior. "I'm digging it."
Department ranks second in female ratio
- Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
Bv J.D. McKee
By J.D. McKee
writer@kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
Female chemistry faculty at the University of Kansas are making headway in a traditionally male-dominated field.
The University's chemistry department ranks second in the nation in female faculty ratio, according to a survey published in the Sept. 25 issue of Chemical and Engineering News.
An article, "Women Chemists Still Rare in Academia," noted that the University's department has six tenure-track female faculty members, constituting 25 percent of the faculty. From the surveyed United States universities, the University was one of only two universities where women accounted for more than 20 percent of the faculty.
Rutgers University was No.1 in the survey with 10 tenure-track female faculty members, accounting for 26 percent of its faculty.
"I suspected we were in the top five," she said. "But it's nice to see it in print."
Sally Frost Mason, dean of liberal arts and sciences, said the department did not specifically recruit female faculty.
Kristin Bowman-James, professor and chemistry chair, said that she was aware the magazine was doing the survey and that she wasn't surprised by the results.
"We are always looking for qualified candidates," she said. "But it comes down to who is the best chemist."
In 1999, women made up 32.5 percent of faculty on the Lawrence campus, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning.
"Last year, when I taught an introductory graduate class, 13 of the 15 students were women," she said.
"That's a pretty high ratio."
Bowman-James said it was difficult to determine whether the number of female faculty members influenced the number of students entering the department. But she said she had noted a large number of women in her classes.
Jack Landgrebe, professor of chemistry, said that he had noticed an increase in women entering the graduate program in the past 10 to 15 years. He also thought the number of women in the department helped draw other women chemists.
"Once you start getting women on the faculty, it becomes more attractive to other women chemists;" he said.
The chemistry rating comes several months after a similar accomplishment in the physics department. The American Institute of Physics released a study in June that recognized the University as one of only 17 universities nationwide with at least four female faculty members.
Directing the wind
Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Conductor Robert Foster directs the KU Wind Ensemble. The department of music and dance sponsored the KU Band Spectacular last night at the Lied Center. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN
Student reaction to debate mirrors nation
Bv Kursten Phelds
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
University of Kansas students had similar reactions to viewers around the nation about Tuesday's presidential debate.
Education, abortion, social security and taxes were the most useful issues addressed by the presidential candidates, according to data from DebateWatch 2000, which surveyed more than 2,000 viewers across the country after the debate. The national program is directed by Diana Carlin, dean of the Graduate School and International Programs, and is based at the University of Kansas.
Shawna Smith, Hays junior and Carlin's research assistant, said she
thought the DebateWatch results fell in line with college students' perceptions about the debates.
"We seemed to have a fairly young group that didn't talk about Medicare, Medicaid and prescription drugs." Smith said. "I also think it reflected that young people didn't care as much about character issues and wanted to get down to the issues."
The "early results of the surveys showed that 21 percent of participants thought that leadership and character issues were the least-relevant issues discussed in the debate.
The results also showed that the death penalty, gun control and international relations were the main issues participants wanted to see addressed more in future debates.
Paul Schumaker, professor of political science, said he thought the debates should motivate and energize students about next month's election.
"Typically, students complain that there's no point to care much because the candidates are so similar and the outcomes are so preordained," Schumaker said. "But the outcome of this election is anything but preordained. The differences between the candidates are quite pronounced and could have rather significant consequences for students and the future."
Brian Thomas, Plano, Texas, freshman, said the issues in DebateWatch 2000 were important to him, but so was the character of the candidates
"To a degree, welfare and social
security are important to me as a student who also has a job." Thomas said. "Given what happened in the Clinton administration, I think character is an important factor to consider in an election. Both candidates have a similar background and upbringing and seem to have good values and morals."
Adam Obley, Topeka sophomore, said he thought education was the most relevant issue addressed for students.
"I think education hits closest to home for us," Obley said. "I think Al Gore has a good stand on it and is pushing for the vote of people our age with his education theme."
Edited by Warisa Chulindra
Androgynous artist expresses identity through work
Kansan staff writer
By Leita Schultes
writer@kansan.com
Just ask Chris Somers, an androgynous-identifying artist, who spoke last night at the Spencer Museum of Art
The world is not always as it seems, and people are not always aware of multiple realities.
Hobart Jackson, associate professor of architecture, co-sponsored Somers' presentation and echoed the artist's words.
Somers, from Perth, Australia, has two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome. He/she used his/her presentation as a way to explain the meaning behind his/her art.
"This is an opportunity to see the artwork of a person who educates diversity," he said.
Somers exhibited hls/her computer and mixed media-manipulated photography. With each slide he/she shed
"What you are about to hear and see may challenge your basic assumptions." Somers told about 40 people.
light on his/her life.
pentence, but it may be a pomfret.
Somers said that when he/she reached puberty, he/she began developing breasts. Three years ago, an ultrasound showed Somers had ovaries, a collapsed internal vagina and a possible uterus.
"At a young age, I was very aware of who I was," Somers said. "I had a dick, which everyone knows is a penis, but I also had other attributes."
"I could be seen as a poly-homosexual, I suppose," Somers joked near the end of the presentation.
But Somers did not allow labels to limit him/her.
"I do not identify as male," he/she said. "Equally, I do not identify as female. I identify as me."
Identifying as an individual allowed Somers to co-found the International Foundation for Androgynous Studies, based at the University of Western Australia. He/she is in the United States for three months as an artist in residence.
Somers said his/her goal was to engender an understanding about androgyne people.
Much of Somers' art depicts nude models, whose genders are hidden through body position, masks or question marks.
"We often think that sex is between the legs." Somers said. "What you've got down there will define who you are."
Some audience members had no problem doing so.
But Somers urged the audience to move beyond conventional thought and to look more deeply at what it means to be human.
"Almost everything Chris was saying I could identify with," said Jan Nutter, a Lawrence resident who was identified as a transsexual 20 years ago.
Nutter, 53, said that it was difficult to feel integrated in a world where gender was polarized between male and female but that she had learned to accept her sexuality.
"By the time you're my age, you've learned to be in your own right," she said. "Your soul can be a different gender than who you are on the outside."
— Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Chris Somers,
transgendered artist,
presents "The
Dawn of a
New
Awakening:
Andragyny"
last night at the
Spencer
Auditorium.
Somers' art
focused on
the difficulties
of growing up
transgendered. Photo
by Ashley
Marriott/
KANSAN