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TODAY'S WEATHER: Mostly sunny with highs in the lower 70s SPORTS: Volleyball team suffers at hands of Kansas State.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
TALK TO US: Contact Kursten Phelps or Leita Schultes at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THURSDAY NOVEMBER1,2001
ISSUE 47 VOLUME 112
Kansas City postal office tests positive for anthrax
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Preliminary tests on trash at a specialized Kansas City postal facility were positive for anthrax, health officials said last night.
"I want to stress that there are no individuals that are infected, that we are taking more precautionary and prudent measures," said Rex Archer, director of the Kansas City, Mo., Health Department.
The positive samples came from two trash bags containing material from employees' wastebaskets in one section of the Stamp Fulfillment Services Center, manager Gary Stone said. The Centers for Disease Control is planning further tests to confirm the presence of anthrax.
Located in a complex of caves in northeastern Kansas City, the center is the national repository for the Postal Service's collector stamps. In one section, where no anthrax was detected, about 160 to 170 employees fill orders for stamps.
The positive samples came from a second, smaller section that was the destination for all first-day cancellations shipped from post offices around the country. About 30 to 40 people work in that section, stamping the cancellations by hand or machine and mailing them out to collectors.
conectors. Stone said 14 trays of first-day cancellations — about 7,000 pieces of mail — were received at the center on Oct. 19 from the Brentwood postal facility in Washington, D.C. Two employees of the now-closed Brentwood facility have died of inhalation anthrax.
After arriving in Kansas City, the trays from Brentwood sat untouched over the weekend. On Monday, Oct. 22, Stone ordered the trays set aside and shrink-wrapped. Employees' wastebaskets were also emptied for testing.
None of the Brentwood mail has tested positive for anthrax, Stone said last night, and it was unclear how the employees' trash might have become contaminated.
The first-day cancellation center will remain closed for now, but the stamp fulfillment operation is open. Stone said.
Last week, the centers' 200 workers were advised to take antibiotics as a precaution. About 50 workers were tested Friday for possible anthrax contamination.
Last night, health workers were interviewing postal workers to ask about anthrax symptoms, and to tell them to contact their doctor so they could take preventative medication.
Online enrollment in sight
Project tentatively slated to begin in Fall 2003
By Paul Smith Kansan staff writer
Almost 100 years of student records have interfered with implementation of online enrollment at the University of Kansas.
Academic records for almost 500,000 students — some dating as far back as 1905 — must be converted from the current database system to the new Student Administration System software before online enrollment is possible.
Bob Turvey, project manager, said all the records needed to be converted simultaneously to make retrieval of records easier. He said that when he was associate registrar last year, the office received requests almost weekly for transcripts from as long ago
as the 1930s.
Turvey said online enrollment might be available in Spring 2003 for the following fall semester — if the current schedule holds.
"We have detailed project plans and target completion dates." Turvey said. "But in a project of this magnitude, everything will not go our way."
Richard C. Morrell, University registrar, said the online enrollment project was important for the University.
"It's just not convenient for some students to come to 151 Strong Hall," Morrell said, citing commuter students, student interns and those overseas.
Online enrollment would offer almost every student electronic access to information, including class fees and add/drop requests, Morrell said.
But students would still have set times to enroll online.
said Cindy Derritt, associate registrar for enrollment services.
"A server can't handle 24,000 students at one time," Derritt said. "Some kind of staggering will still go on."
Derritt said that advising deans stamps, upperclassman preference and perhaps even permits to enroll would remain operational during online enrollment.
"They may look different, but they won't go away," she said.
Until electronic registration is available, Derritt's focus remains making the enrollment process easier for students.
process. The 50-minute wait to enroll was Casey Old's biggest complaint. The Yates Center senior showed up early for his 1 p.m. appointment Friday and, even though there was no line at the enrollment center door, Old was told students were served by appointment.
Students often have to deal with a lot of paperwork when enrolling, which can add to the stress of the enrollment process.
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
half an hour."
Contact Smith at 864-4810
Day of the Dead time to celebrate life
Students remember loved ones during Hispanic holiday
By J. R. Mendoza Kansan staff writer
Raymond Rico remembers visiting the cemetery when he was younger to pay respect to his deceased relatives as part of el Dia de los Muertos.
Rico, Kansas City, Kan. freshman, said after visiting the cemetery, he and his family would go to his aunt's house and eat pan dulce, also known as sweet bread. Rico said his family would also put pictures of their late relatives and light candles on an altar, which was set up as part of the celebration.
Like some other Hispanics, Rico celebrates el Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, today and tomorrow. According to information from the Multicultural Resource Center, the holiday combines elements of Christianity and pre-Columbian concepts of death into a celebration of life.
The Day of the Dead consists of two days, according to the Kansas Advisory Committee on Hispanic Affairs (KACHA). On the first day of November, celebrations are dedicated to children who have died. Adults who have died are honored and remembered on the second dav
As part of the celebration, families set up altars in their homes with pictures of loved ones, candles, flowers
SEE HOLIDAY PAGE 5A
Left: Skeletal pallbearers shoulder one of their own. Spooner Hall exhibited the figurines commemorating El Dia de los Muertos. The event began in ancient Mexico to celebrate the dead. Top: An altar for El Dia de los Muertos commemorates loved ones at the Multicultural Resource Center. The celebration is a Hispanic tradition.
Chancellor responds to student concerns in open forum
By Luke Daley Kansan staff writer
Chancellor Robert Hemenway said that a shortage of state funds would make faculty salary increases difficult, but that he doesn't think that would keep good faculty away from the University of Kansas.
away from the Hemenway addressed faculty salaries and other concerns last night with about 30 students and members of Student
Senate in Alderson Auditorium at the Kansas Union.
"I don't have much tolerance for the argument that we can't keep any good researchers just because our salaries are low." Hemenway said.
Hemenway said more went into keeping graduate students and part-time faculty at the University than just wages.
He said he thought the positive and unique environment at the University was a
bigger factor for keeping faculty members.
Amy Cummins, graduate senator and member of the Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition, said other employees of the University, such as graduate teaching assistants, deserved more money.
Hemenway said the University put academics first. However, he said it was hard for the administration to raise salaries of faculty members.
The salaries for those positions are
partially state funds and partially private funds," Hemenway said. "This University knows that it is not as well funded as our peer institutions."
He said it would be hard to pay the faculty the same wages as other schools that received higher contributions, such as Stanford.
Hemenway also answered questions about how the athletics department handles its programs.
"There were times that we weren't getting straight answers," she said.
Andrea Dyche, Shawnee junior, said Hemenway didn't offer many solutions.
might straighten out. Sara Zafar, Wichita freshman, said Hemenway took a major step meeting with students to hear their concerns
with students to hear their stories. "If this happened more often, it would be a good thing." Zafar said.
INSIDETODAY
Contact Daley at 864-4810
COMING IN TOMORROW'S KANSAN
WORLD NEWS...2A
SPORTS...7A
WEATHER...4B
CROSSWORD...4B
ACROSS BORDERS: A new program enables students to work in Latin America for college credit
FOOTBALL: Kansas gears up for a tough game against No. 1 Nebraska.
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.