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Kansan
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Wednesday, October 4, 2000
Sports: Kansas defensive end Ervin Holloman will face his brother in Saturday's game against Kansas State.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: The University will appeal a lawsuit by Watkins hall residents.
(4155 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 27 For comments, contact Nathan Willis or Chris Borniger at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Ben Sweely, Los Angeles junior, left, signs a petition to have Ralph Nader included in the next presidential debate. Sarah Hoskinson, Burton junior, right, and Dalyn Cook, Colorado Springs, Cole, sophomore, in the background, were at the table taking signatures while candidates George Bush and Al Gore debated on the television behind the students. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN
Students packed into the west side of the Kansas Union lobby to watch the election debate between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush last night. Excited cheers often erupted from the crowd during the debate. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN
Students view first debate with interest
By J.D. McKee
writer @kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students had mixed responses to the presidential debate between Democratic nominee Al Gore and Republican nominee George W. Bush last night at the Kansas Union.
Galen Turner, Lawrence junior, was among about 150 people in attendance and said he had a hard time differentiating between the two candidates.
"They take minor differences and blow them out of proportion to prove they disagree," Turner said. "They answered questions with the same answers and claimed to be different."
Turner, who supports Green Party can
didate Ralph Nader, also disagreed with Bush's proposal to use clean coal.
"There's no such thing as clean coal," he said. "Coal is a dirty fuel."
The Green Party had a table set up during the debate to distribute information about Nader, who was excluded from the debate.
Breeze Luetke-Stahlman, Olathe senior, said she was disappointed that Nader was left out of the debate.
"I think the two party format is ridiculous," she said.
Luette-Stahilman said she thought the topics discussed were important but wasn't impressed by either candidate — particularly Bush.
"I don't see how anyone could vote for Bush after this," she said.
But Bush did find support from Jenny Kaufman, Aurora, Colo., junior.
"He did a fabulous job," Kaufman said of Bush. "He really addressed the issues and responded really well to everything Al Gore accused him of."
Michael Young, Lawrence senior, said he thought both candidates did well, but he said that Gore had a better grasp on the issues of most Americans.
"I was especially heartened to hear the vice president's decisive position on education," said Young, a member of KU Young Democrats. "Especially the college tuition tax-credit of up to $10,000."
Young said he was disappointed with what he called Bush's cheap comebacks and character assassination of Gore.
"Americans and students can see through those cheap attacks," he said.
The Hawk's Nest on the third floor was opened to accommodate the overflow of students. Patrick Waters, forums coordinator for Student Union Activities and Leavenworth senior, said he had expected only 30 to 35 people to attend the SU- sponsored event, but was pleased with the political diversity of the crowd.
"We have Republicans, Democrats and Green Party members in the same place," Waters said. "That's one of the best things about it."
Waters said he hoped the large attendance would translate into large voter turnout among students.
— Edited by Werisa Chulindra
Upgrade may cause fee increase in halls
writer@kansan.com
By Jason Krall
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The price of Internet access in residence halls could increase to as much as five times the current rate as the University struggles to keep up with Internet use that has doubled in the last year, administrators said yesterday.
All students living in residence halls likely would be required to pay the increased rates, regardless of whether they had a computer.
System upgrades are needed to keep up with the pace of Internet use by students in the residence halls on Daisy Hill, scholarship halls, Jayhawker Towers and Stouffer Place, said John Louis, director of networking and telecommunications services (NTS)
Michael Hevel, president of the Association of University Residence Halls, said that, while it seems the fee surely would need to be increased, how much
RESIDENCE HALL INTERNET ACCESS
What's happening: Administrators are considering increasing the price of Internet access in residence halls to pay for system upgrades.
What does it mean: Depending on the upgrade, access rates for students in residence halls could increase from $90 to between $180 and $447 per year.
What's next: The Reskret Advisory Board, which oversees Internet services in residence halls, will propose the fee increase to the Student Housing Advisory Board. Final approval rests with Chancellor Robert Hemenway.
could depend on the extent of the upgrade.
If the University decides, based on student input, to upgrade to an integrated telecommunications system, with telephone, cable television and Internet access all coming through the same digital line, the cost could raise the Internet fee as high as $447, he said. The line would feed directly into a
could depend on the extent of the upgrade.
computer, thus requiring all students to have a computer just to use the phone.
If the University chooses instead to only upgrade the existing Internet system, the fee would rise from the current $90 to about $180, he said.
This year's fee is already twice as much as the fee charged last year.
In either case, the fee likely would become part of the cost of student housing, and students would no longer have the option to choose whether they wanted it. Hevel said.
larger increase. We will help."
"If you can't afford a computer, I kind of have a problem with requiring you to pay this fee," he said.
Sarah Coleman, Wichita sophomore and Lewis Hall resident, said she thought either increase might be enough to drive some students out of on-campus housing.
For that reason, it seems unlikely that the larger increase will be approved, he said.
"People live on campus because it's cheaper," she said. "I think that would really cut down on the number of people who want student housing."
Coleman said she was happy with the speed of her connection but would like to have two broadband Ethernet connections in her room so that she wouldn't have to switch off with her roommate.
Louis said either of the upgrades being considered would allow for multiple connections within the same room.
Louis said NTS may poll student housing residents to gauge support for the upgrades. In recent years, Internet activity in the residence halls has doubled about every six months, he said.
Louis said NTS is conducting a study to find out what portion of the Internet traffic in the residence halls is recreational, such as students downloading mp3 files. But he said NTS isn't too concerned with how much of student Internet use is play compared to how much is related to coursework.
"If students want to play, we say that's fine, as long as they're willing to pay for it," he said. "If they're paying for the connection, why should we care what they're doing?"
Danger lurks on two wheels
— Edited by Kristi Elliott
The accident plays through Brandon Warner's mind like a videotape running in slow-motion.
By Brandon Stinnett Special to the Kansan
Motorcycle mishap shows need for safety
Warner, a Leavenworth junior, is riding his motorcycle on an old, country road in Leavenworth. It's a dangerous stretch of highway, with winding curves and loose sand and gravel. Warner leans the bike to make a left turn when something goes wrong.
The rear tire loses grip on the road,
and the bike spins on its side. Warner hits the ground and is sent helplessly
careening toward a wooden signpost sticking out of the ground. The post delivers a crushing blow to his mid-section as his body wraps around it. The force of the impact thrusts Warner's body backward into a ditch. He remains conscious, but the pain is so severe he can't move.
The moment Warner decided to ride a motorcycle, the likelihood of his being involved in an accident increased. According to the Kansas
"You just expect to open your eyes and realize that none of it ever happened and you're still at home," Warner said of the June 18 accident. "It hasn't gone away yet. Everyday I wake up, and it's still there."
It happened in a second but the memory makes it feel like an eternity.
Department of Transportation, motorcycles and other motorized twowheeled vehicles accounted for just .02 percent of all motor vehicles in Kansas in 1999 but were involved in.9 percent of all accidents.
The chances of being injured in a motorcycle accident are high. In the 667 motorcycle accidents in Kansas in 1999, 632 people were injured.
That number wouldn't surprise Brian Hunt, a doctor in the emergency department at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Hunt said that by treating accident victims, he had witnessed first-hand the dangers of motorcycles.
"Of all the motor vehicles, I believe motorcycles are
See HELMETS on page GA
Jon Calvin rides his motorcycle down a neighborhood street without wearing a helmet. While many people consider motorcycles to be dangerous, the danger increases if the rider is not wearing a helmet. Photo illustration By Craig Bennett/KANSAN
2000 Minority Enrollment
Melissa Carr/KANSAN
Other schools have struggles with enrollment of minorities, too
By Leita Schultes
writer@kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
The number of minority students on campus is down since last fall, but the University of Kansas is not alone in its struggle to maintain diversity.
According to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, there are 2,299 minority students at KU, down from 2,317 last fall, though this figure may be higher because the race, or ethnicity, of 4 percent of campus was listed as "unknown."
The overall percentage dropped as well. A year ago, minorities constituted 9.1 percent of the student body and are now only 8.9 percent.
Other schools around the Big 12 also have programs to raise minority enrollment.
0. 5 percent Chancellor Robert Hemenway said more must be done to bring and keep minority students at KU.
"We can always do better," he said. "We have to do better."
Iowa State now boasts the school's second highest freshmen minority enrollment and an overall minority enrollment of 6.6 percent.
Compared with other Big 12 Conference schools, the University falls short of Missouri's 15.5 percent of total minority enrollment, but it is ahead of both Kansas State and Iowa State.
HAWKLink, which is designed to assist minority students, became a year-round program this year, said student coordinator Season Titus, Newton senior.
Alan Cerveny, director of admissions and scholarships, said KU faculty also were trying to coordinate individual recruitment and retention efforts.
In an effort to stay ahead, the University has begun to expand its minority student services.
"My goal would be that everyone who enters KU would participate and envision themselves as graduating from KU," Hemenway said.
These programs aim at the chancellor's goal.
Richard Seagrave, Iowa State's interim president, credited out-of-state recruitment as the key for the university's minority enrollment, because Iowa's minority population is just 4.1 percent.
Iowa State has implemented a program of learning communities, which are made up of 15 to 20 freshmen who have similar schedules and live near one another, to aid retention, Seagrave said. The communities are for all students, and 40 percent of incoming freshmen — including minorities — participate. He said the groups had helped raise retention by 10 percent.
Although K-State's minority enrollment is at 7.6 percent, Pat Bosco, K-State's dean of student life and associate vice president for institutional advancement, was happy with the numbers and said they had increased during the past 10 years.
Bosco said recruitment and retention of minority students was difficult, but credited K-State faculty with much of the university's success.
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"K-State has a very strong, historical relationship between undergraduate students and our teaching faculty," he said. "I'm not sure that K-State does anything special, other than being responsive."
— Edited by Kristi Elliott
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