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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TALK TO US: Contact
Kursten Phelps or Leita
Schultes at (785) 864-4810
or editor@kansan.com
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16,2001
WWW.KANSAN.COM
ISSUE 58 VOLUME 112
Senate could add advertising to bathrooms
By Luke Daley Kansan staff writer
Students may be able to stay better informed about campus events just by using the restrooms next semester.
Kyle Brownning, student body vice president, said he was considering a proposal made by Eric Gonsher, president of E.L. Bailer Advertising and Overland Park senior, that would create areas for the advertising in bathrooms at the University.
He said that creating the advertising spaces would require about $30,000 — money that Student Senate might have trouble allocating.
Gonsher said that he and Browning were looking into whether Senate could give money to a nonstudent group, even if it benefited students.
Mike Appleby, nontraditional senator, said that Senate would have to suspend a rule that allowed only student groups to ask for Senate money.
Browning said that it could potentially be an effective way to advertise to students, but "some senators might be uncomfortable with supporting a profiting company."
He said that there would be no commercial ads contained in the spaces and that Senate probably wouldn't see a bill come through legislation that asked for the full amount required to establish the system
Branden Bell, holdover senator and finance committee member, said that one of his concerns about the proposal was spending student money on advertising.
He said that he would rather have E.L. Bailer put up commercial advertising so that revenue could come from businesses rather than the University.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with allowing businesses to advertise in restrooms, as long as they are also paying to put up announcements on what's happening on campus with no cost to the students." Bell said.
He said that would include changing the campus ads biweekly, which would cost about $3 per space.
Jared Ernzen, Leavenworth sophomore, said that he wouldn't mind if Senate spent money to create the system.
"I definitely think it would help because if you're using the restrooms, there's really not too much else to do," Ernzen said. "It would be better than reading the stuff on the walls."
Policy to affect2003 freshmen
Regent says hours not far from amount students already earn
Contact Daley at 864-4810
By Paul Smith Kansan staff writer
Regent Jack Wempe provided more details yesterday for the new Board of Regents policy he proposed Wednesday that increased upper division course requirements to 54 credit hours.
requirements to recruit Wempe said the policy was not retroactive. It would affect only entering freshmen in the fall of 2003, and the 54-credit-hour minimum was the average amount of upper division courses students earn.
The requirement for upper division course hours varies among schools, though Pam Houston, director of undergraduate services for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said that the college required a minimum of 40 junior/rsenior hours.
James Carothers, associate provost, supported Wempe's assertion.
"The number of junior/senior hours that the new Regents policy specifies is very close to the average number already earned by KU students who graduated last May." Carothers said.
He added that the University of Kansas would need the two years before implementation to study the possible effects of the policy, and that the provost's office and the deans would lead that examination at the University.
"This is going to affect every student at every Regents university," Carothers said.
Wempe said he offered the policy to the board in order to provide a simple policy that defined baccalaureate degrees.
The definition of baccalaureate degrees came into question as a result of a program offered by Washburn University that allowed community college students to transfer 84 credit hours.
"We simply focused on the upper division issue, and by doing that we did not address the transfer hours." Wempe said. "We left the transfer issue alone."
Other Regents institutions had a 64 hour limit on transfer credits from community colleges. Kathy Rupp, associate director of academic affairs for the Board of Regents, said last month that the Regents sought a uniform policy.
Wempe said that because community colleges could not offer upper division courses, the transfer credit hour limit in effect had been increased to 70 hours.
"There can be modifications yet," Wempe said, "and I'm sure we'll have a lot of feedback."
Justin Mills, student body president
said the Regents policy bothered him.
"They made policy in 15 minutes that would possibly keep all students in Kansas in school an extra half-year," Mills said.
He added that the Regents set policy backwards, in that they approved the policy before asking for input from administrators and students.
Brent Zluticky, Wichita senior, said the new policy was bad for freshmen entering in 2003.
"More and more it seems like people are having to spend 5 years in programs." Zluticky said, adding that extracurricular activities and jobs necessitated the additional year.
"That hurts people, having to pay for whole extra year." Zluticky said, "and this policy is going to further that."
'Living Constitution' gets one less vote
Contact Smith at 864-4810
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia emphasizes his point to KU law students that relying on the original intent of the framers protects the Constitution. He said that the idea of a "living Constitution," offered no safeguards against changing the document.
J. E. WILSON/KANSAN
Justice Scalia warns against changing intent of framers
By Eve Lamborn Kansan staff writer
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia defends his rejection of the idea of a "living Constitution."
"My Constitution doesn't change," he said several times.
Sealia spoke to about 200 people at the University of Kansas School of Law's Green Hall yesterday.
He said he tried to discern the original intent of the writers of the Constitution. He does this even when dealing with situations that did not exist when it was written, which contrasted with the idea of a living Constitution that changes over time.
"With a living Constitution, it means whatever it 'ought' to mean, the courts can just invent it," he said. "You can add or take out whatever strikes your fancy."
Scalia answered questions from law students on topics that ranged from interpretation of specific cases to the atmosphere during the anthrax scare to requests for book recommendations.
The Federalist Papers and the writings of Alexis de Toqueville should be read by every American, he said, and it was business as usual during the anthrax threat that put the Supreme Court out of its building for a week.
"I chucked my remaining Cipro tablets when I found the anthrax had*
gone beyond the mail room," he said.
Cipro tablets are an antibiotic used in the treatment of anthrax.
Stephen McAllister, dean of law, said Scalia's presence put a human face on the Supreme Court.
"It lets them ask questions directly and hear answers directly," he said.
Scalia, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan, was characteristically forthright in his answers, sometimes making jokes, sometimes throwing queries back at the audience.
"Brusqueness is a very honest thing," he said.
About the Bush v. Gore decision, he said: "This was a hot potato. We stood up to the plate and did what we had to do."
He said the U.S. Constitution played a unique role when compared to the constitutions of other nations in shaping the identity of this country.
"We were not Americans until we had this document that made a nation out of us," he said. "You don't know who you are if you don't understand the Constitution."
Nicole Johnson, Big Spring, Texas first-year law student, said Scalia was outspoken in his denial of a living Constitution.
"He stands behind all of his opinions, and he is not afraid to be forthright and speak what is on his mind," she said.
Scalia will be at KU through today as the school's Page Jurist in Residence.
Contact Lamborn at 864-4810
Panel looks at future of Afghanistan
By Matt Norton Kansan staff writer
After the Taliban and al-Qaida networks are defeated in Afghanistan, the United States and the rest of the Western world must take an active role in rebuilding the country, experts said in a discussion in the Kansas Union yesterday.
About 25 people attended the discussion, which was titled "Afghanistan 101: Political Factions, Military Operations and a Brief History of Islamic Funda-
A four-person round table gave a broad overview of the history of the region surrounding
The discussion was sponsored by KU International Programs.
Afghanistan, the rise of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, and the massive military, political and humanitarian hurdles that must be cleared to bring stability to the war-torn nation.
Raheem Yaseer, assistant director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, said the Afghan people would need to be protected as they set up a new government in the coming years.
Pakistan was one of the few countries that officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
If neighboring countries, especially Pakistan, are allowed to influence the direction of the new government, little will change in the region. Yaseer said.
Yaseer, who fled his home in Kabul, Afghanistan, with his family in 1987, said that he fore-saw the members of the northern alliance teaming up with the exiled former king, Zahir Shaw, to set up a temporary government that would write a new constitution for Afghanistan and develop a new government.
Yaseer said that before the U.S. military strikes, the Taliban governed Afghanistan as though it were a concentration camp. He said that the Taliban did not have the option of turning in bin Laden and members of his terrorist network, al-Qaida, the group that has been accused by the United States of planning the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We kept shouting, 'Taliban'
should hand in Osama bin Laden,"" he said. "And Osama bin Laden was not going to be handed in by anybody because he was the master of the whole operation."
Panel member Jeff Colyer, a Kansas City, Kan., surgeon and member of International Medical Corps, has worked in Afghanistan.
He said that the country,which has been in a state of war for more than 30 years,was experiencing a famine that would get worse.
Humanitarian aid would be a major strategic issue for the United States and its allies, he said.
"What you are going to see is the largest relief program in the history of the United Nations," Colyer said.
Contact Norton at 864-4810
CHRIS RIJKET/ANSAN
Raheem Yaseer, assistant director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, takes questions from the press about the current situation in Afghanistan. Yaseer said that protection for the Afghan people would be crucial as they try to set up a new government in the coming years.
INSIDETODAY
WORLD NEWS ...2A
HILLTOPICS ...6A
WEATHER ...4B
CROSSWORD ...4B
COMING IN MONDAY'S KANSAN
NEWS: In a time of war, students learn about peace in a special one-time-only class.
SPORTS: A recap of the Jayhawks' matchup with Iowa State.
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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