WEDNESDAY, OCT.3, 2001
NATION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Wichita rethinks gay benefits
The Associated Press
WICHITA — Sedgwick County's new insurance benefits for unmarried domestic partners may not last more than a week.
County commissioners appear to have the votes to overturn County Manager William Buchanan's decision to offer employees the option of extending their health coverage to gay or straight partners.
Commissioners put the item on today's agenda after receiving numerous phone calls and e-mails from constituents who say the policy gives official sanction to sinful unions.
Employees were told of their option to cover domestic partners in a packet of materials outlining insurance plans for 2002. Employees could sign up for the benefits beginning Monday.
Commissioner Tim Norton said he originally was willing to defer to Buchanan and the county's human resources staff. But now, he said, he would probably vote to rescind the policy because of pressure from residents.
"I don't know that this is the right time, or the right place, for us to be stepping out and taking a leadership role on a social issue like this," he said.
Commissioners Carolyn McGinn and Ben Sciortino said last week they opposed the policy because they thought the county's health benefits should be reserved only for employees and their immediate families.
Buchanan said he approved the domestic partner policy to keep the county competitive in recruiting and retaining the best employees possible. He was not required to get the commissioners' approval beforehand, although he did discuss it with them
Domestic partner benefits are common among many of Wichita's major employers, such as Boeing Co. Such benefits also are routinely offered by government agencies on both coasts.
Yet in a stretch of the country from the Mississippi River to Arizona, domestic partner benefits are offered by local governments in only four metropolitan areas: Denver; Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin, Texas; and Iowa City, Iowa.
"Nationwide, it's been going on for a good while," Norton said. "But in the Midwest, we're probably a little far up on the curve. Whether you call it Midwest values or Moral Majority or whatever you call it, I think that's what you have to deal with in the Midwest."
Sept.11 victim survives burns
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A young securities broker who was enveloped in a fireball on the 82nd floor of the World Trade Center said yesterday he remembered thinking. "Please, God, just make it quick."
Despite burns covering a third of his body, from his ankles to his face, and pain so severe he wouldn't let his co-workers touch him. Manu Dhingra, 27, survived his hellish experience in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. Yesterday he became the first victim released from the New York Weill Cornell Burn Center.
Wearing a Yankee cap and a New York Firefighters Foundation shirt plus wraps on his arms and heavy lotion on his face and hands — Dhingra said he could not explain "why I
have a second chance" when thousands of others did not.
"I just can't let it go to waste," he vowed at a news conference at the hospital. "Life can't be normal."
Dhingra said he had just emerged from the elevator for a day of trading at Andover Brokerage when "I was just covered in a ball of fire."
"I thought it was over," he said. "I thought it was a bomb."
Then he realized he was alive and that "there's nobody going to come up to the 82nd floor." so he began walking down despite the searing pain.
Two co-workers helped him, clearing the way as they descended the numbing flights of stairs and occasionally fetching water for his rapidly dehydrating body. But "my friends couldn't touch me," he said.
Their greatest help, he said, was in deceiving him about the trip down. Once, when he wanted to rest, they told him to keep going because there were just 10 floors left. He found out later they were on the 61st floor.
"I owe a lot to them for lying to me." Dhingra said.
Somehow, he completed the march down and was bundled into an ambulance. He did not know the twin towers had collapsed until he was safely in the hospital, he said.
There are 14 Trade Center victims still at the burn unit, "most of them worse than me," Dhingra said. "I get inspiration from them."
He said he wasn't sure when—or if—he would return to work. But he said he was rallied by the spirit of unity in New York.
Accidents decrease when laws restrict teenage licensing
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Restricting teenagers' driving privileges until they prove their abilities behind the wheel can dramatically reduce crashes involving 16-year-olds, according to studies of "graduated license" laws in Michigan and North Carolina.
the programs work by simply limiting the amount of time teenagers spend driving, or by less obvious means, such as rewarding safe driving with more privileges. The studies said both may help explain the programs' success.
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among U.S. teens, and the youngest drivers have the highest likelihood of crashing. In the past four years, 34 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted graduated licensing programs, researchers said.
Michigan and North Carolina enacted theirs in 1997. The studies compared crash statistics there in 1996 and 1999.
In Michigan, 16-year-olds were 25 percent less likely to get into a car crash in 1999, said researchers led by Jean Shope of the University of Michigan.
In North Carolina, the risk of a crash dropped 23 percent among 16-year-olds. Nighttime crashes involving 16-year-olds declined by 43 percent, and fatal crashes plunged 57 percent.
"In North Carolina, during 1999 alone, the result was dozens of lives preserved, thousands of injuries prevented, and millions of dollars saved." Robert Foss and colleagues at the University of North Carolina's Highway Safety Research Center wrote in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
North Carolina requires motorists who are at least 15 to drive with an adult for the first year of their licenses. Teens who have no traffic violations in the final six months and pass a road test may obtain a less restrictive license, allowing unsupervised daytime driving. They then must complete at least six continuous months of driving with no traffic violations to get a full, unrestricted license. Michigan has similar restrictions.
In an accompanying editorial, researcher Anne T. McCartt called the results encouraging but said further studies were needed to identify which restrictions are most effective.
'Really? A Billion Bucks?!'
Yep. That's how much KU Endowment works with each year to help KU. Most of this money consists of something called "endowed funds."
What that means is money reserved for the some interest earnings are awarded and some the principal's purchasing power isn't gradually eaten by inflation. These funds produced $20 million in student scholarships just this year!
The outfit that raises private money and
INVEST IN EXCELLENCE
The outfit that raises private money and invests it for KU is the Kansas University Endowment Association. It's one of the country's largest because KU alumni and friends are so loyal and generous. And its value to the University for more than 130 years can hardly be measured. That's why, when the subject turns to university endowments, we can never be too big. And why we've launched KU First
And why we've launched KU First.
Most KU Students Drink Moderately or Not At All (0-5 Drinks) When They Party*
Where Do You Live? "A House"
What is Your Major? "COMS Studies"
Where are You From? "Wichita, Kansas"
Who is Your Favorite Band? "Edie Brickell"
What is Your Favorite Kind of Food? "Chinese"
Do You Drink? "Yes"
When You Party, Do You Use a Designated Driver? "I just walk home"
On Average How Many Drinks Do You Have? "About 3-5 drinks in a night"
How Do You Keep Track? "I ask the bartender and he looks at my tab"
Per Hour Over A
5 Hour Period
WEDNESDAY
DJ Jerett
$2.00 Double Calls
$1.00 Lemon Drops
About One Drink
FRIDAY
DJ Seano
$2.00
Red Bull & Vodka
$2.00
Coors Light Draws
SATURDAY
THURSDAY
$1.50
Bud Light Bottles
$2.00
180 & Bacardi 'O'
$2.00
Smirnoff Ice
$2.00
Smirnoff Twists
SUNDAY
ClubX 10:00 pm S.I.N. (Service Industry Night) $2.00 Cocktails
MONDAY
Martini Night
$3.00
Cosmopolitans
TUESDAY
Import Night $2.00 Imports & Microbrews
Open Daily
4:44 PM - 2:00 AM
815 New Hampshire
Lawrence, KS
785.842.8200