Pickers' paradise
Musicians from around the country strummed, plucked and competed in Winfield over the weekend at the 15th National Flat-Pickin' Championships
Photo story, page 6
Identical twins Mark and Mike Lesher have more in common than looks. They both play junior varsity football, major in computer science and are members of the same fraternity.
Double trouble
Splashdance
Story, page 9
Today should be a wet one. The forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. Tonight should bring more of the same.
Details, page 3
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Vol. 97, No.22 (USPS 650-640)
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Tuesday September 23,1986
Von Ende pleads guilty and resigns
Richard von Ende
KU officials regret loss of adviser
By TONY BALANDRAN and ALISON YOUNG Staff writers
Staff writers
Richard von Ende, University executive secretary, resigned his position yesterday morning and entered a guilty plea to two federal cocaine-related charges.
Chancellor Gene A. Budig, in a prepared statement released yesterday afternoon, said he had accepted vop Ende's resignation.
At 10:30 a.m. yesterday in U.S.
District Court in Kansas City, Kan.
von Ende pleaded guilty to one count
of conspiracy to distribute cocaine
and one count of distributing cocaine.
Von Ende could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Mark L. Bennett Jr. of Topeka, would not comment.
"The von Ende case represents a tracedy." Budig said.
Budig's statements echoed those of other University administrators and former colleagues of von Ende.
"I've worked with Rick for years," said James Scaly, assistant to the chancellor. "It is a terrible situation for him. And I, like everyone else who knows him, feel helpless. I really don't know what else to say."
Von Ende was hired in 1970 as an assistant to the director of University Relations and Development. In 1972, former Chancellor Raymond Nichols named him University executive secretary.
Nichols, now chancellor emeritus,
said he didn't regret hiring von Ende.
"When I knew him, he was a fine man. He was a very intelligent man. I'm sorry for him," Nichols said.
"I think he made a mistake," he said. "I thought he had a brilliant future in higher education."
As University executive secretary, von Ende's main responsibility had been to represent the University to the Kansas Legislature and at Board
of Regents meetings.
Before his resignation, von Ende was on paid sick leave from his $33,020-a year position. He went on sick leave in June, shortly after he had been assigned to do special projects for the chancellor.
According to a Douglas County District Court document for a separate civil suit involving von Ende, he had a "contagious kidney infection."
Bradley J. Smooth, von Ende's former attorney in the civil suit, said last week that von Ende had been under the care of Ralph R. Reed, a Lawrence physician.
INSIDE:
Local legislators react to von Ende's guilty plea and his resignation from his University post.
Smoot, who withdrew on April 30 as
■ Federal officials stress that local investigations will continue and that no one is immune to prosecution.
Martha Parker, Republican candidate for the 45th district, has been forced to face drug problems as a parent and as a politician. Her son, Robert L., pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of distribution of cocaine.
Chancellor Gene A. Budig released a statement yesterday after von Ende's resignation. The complete text of the statement and the above stories appear on page 12.
von Ende's attorney in the civil case,
was charged yesterday in a U.S. Attorney's information, or complaint,
with possession of cocaine.
See VON ENDE, p. 5, col. 1
Reed, an internal medicine specialist with the Reed Medical Group, Chartered, located at Fourth and Maine streets, would neither confirm nor deny that he was von Ende's physician.
Before von Ende went on sick leave, Mel Dubnick, chairman of SenEx, said yesterday that many of von Ende's colleagues had noticed a decline in his health.
"He looked like hell," Dubnick said
Former state official faces cocaine charge
By KAREN SAMELSON and COLLEEN SIEBES
Staff writers
A prominent Lawrence lawyer, a former deputy attorney general for Kansas, faces a federal cocaine charge.
Bradley J. Smoot, 36, 720 Louisiana St., the lawyer and former chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party, was charged yesterday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan
According to a statement from U.S. Attorney Ben Burgess, a warrant was issued for Smoot's arrest but his whereabouts had not been determined.
Kurt Shernuk, assistant U.S. attorney, paid Burgess' office had been in contact with Smoot's lawyer. Shernuk said a voluntary surrender might have been discussed.
Smoot's first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 30 at the U.S. District Courthouse in Topeka.
Smoot was charged after Richard von Ende, former University executive secretary, pleaded guilty to a charge of distributing about 1 gram of cocaine to Smoon on Jan. 16 at the West Lawrence Interchange of the Kansas Turnip.
George Clemente, a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent, said Smoot had been under suspicion
during the yearlong investigation that led to von Ende's arrest.
Clemente the delay in charging Smoot might have been because the prosecutor had thought the evidence against Smoot was weak
According to federal law, possession of cocaine is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $5,000 or both.
No action has been taken yet concerning Smoot's license to practice law. Ron Keefoever, public administrator for the Kansas Supreme Court, said the court's standard procedure was to temporarily suspend an attorney's license until a case was finished
Smoot, former employee of the law firm, Petfish, Curran and Immel, 842 Louisiana St., withdrew April 30 as von Ende's counsel in a separate civil suit filed by von Ende in Douglas County District Court. That lawsuit is against the state Department of Revenue and concerns a previous suspension of von Ende's driver's license.
Smoot was employed with Petefish, Curran and Immel for 18 months, according to John Immel, a
Schol hall tenants get highest GPAs
See SMOOT, p. 5, col. 1
Staff writer
By PAM MILLER
According to University statistics, scholarship halls had the highest mean GPA last semester.
Scholarship halls apparently are serving their purpose at the University - residents of those halls consistently have the highest grade point averages on campus.
Fraternities and sororites came in second, and residence halls finished third of the campus living groups.
The average GPA for all scholarship halls combined is 3.25. The average GPA for all residence halls is 2.68.
No overall GPAs were available for fraternities and sororities. The Panhellenic Association only releases the top three house averages and the Interfraternity Council the top five house averages.
"Maybe there's an unsaid pressure to do well," said Renae Noble, a Sellards Scholarship Hall officer. "We have more of a problem of people always saying they have to study. We want them to do more extracurricular activities."
Sellards had a mean GPA of 3.48, the highest average recorded last semester for any living establishment on campus, said Fred McEhlenie, director of residential programs. Sellards now has 48 residents.
The sorority with the highest GPA for the spring semester was Delta Delta Delta, with an average of 3.0182. Kappa Alpha Theta was a close second with a grade point average of 3.0181. Delta Delta Delta has about 140 members.
Beta Theta Pi had the highest fraternity GPA, 3.19, said Danny Kaiser, coordinator of greek events and director of University organizations and activities. The fraternity now has about 75 members.
Hashinger Hall had the highest residence hall GPA, 2.8. It has about 400 residents.
The office of residential programs gives the Alderson Award to the residence hall and the scholarship hall that make the greatest gains in grade point average from semester to semester.
Delta Delta Delta and Beta Theta Pi were awarded the Chancellor's Cup for having the highest greek averages, Kaiser said.
The halls that will receive the Alderson Award for the spring
semester grades have not been determined vet, McElhene said.
Although Sellards may have the highest average GPA and residents want to study, they aren't pressured to study. They're pressured up. Nobile, Bubber, upper said.
"Nothing is said like, 'Hey, everybody, we have to keep the GPA up.' Noble said. "We don't have any required study hours."
Noble said the atmosphere this semester was less studious, with more freshman in the hall.
"I don't know what that will do for our grade point average next semester." Noble said, laughing.
Lance Larkin, scholarship chairman for Beta Theta Pi, said the fraternity had a long history of high grade point averages.
Scholarship hall residents are required to maintain a minimum GPA
"In order to be initiated, pledges have to have above a 2.3." Janssen said. "Pledges have extra study requirements. They're about 50 percent of our house, so they were a big part of the count."
Although the residence hall averages are lower than Greek houses and scholarship halls, staff members on residence halls maintain high GPAs. Kenneth Stoner, director of student housing, said the average GPA of resident assistants hired in the spring was 3.69.
Jacque Janssen, scholarship chairman for Delta Delta Delta and Salina junior, said that the extra study requirements given to pledges accounted for the GPA increase last semester.
"It's something we highly respect," Larkin, Lawrence sophomore, said. "We push each other to study. For pledge training, we have our pledges study really hard. We teach good study habits."
Delta Delta Delta originally was ranked eighth, Janssen said. When the house members found out there was an error and they were first, they could hardly believe it.
McElhenie said he wanted to change the nature of the Alderson Award to make the award recognize more than GPAs.
"We've never ranked higher than third before," she said.
"GPAs rise and fall," McElhenie said. "I want to broaden its base, include different categories."
Jan Morris/KANSAN
Maia Kipp, associate professor of Stavic languages and literatures, teaches advanced Russian to officers at Fort Leavenworth.
School teaches field training
By ATLE BJORGE
FORT LEAVENWORTH — In the long, spotless hallways of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the framed photographs of generals who graduated from the school, from the 1880s to the present, adorn the walls.
The Army's senior tactical school in Fort Leavenworth, about a 45-minute drive northeast of Lawrence, teaches officers how to move forces on the battlefield, said Janet Wray, a public information officer.
The emphasis is on the division level, Wray said. A division is
about 12,000 soldiers. Students take classes with names such as Theatre Operations and Planning, and Combat Service Support. Three times during the 10-month course, students use computer simulation to play war games.
Some past graduates include former president Dwight D. Eisenhower, and generals George Patton and Omar Bradley, who gained their fame during World War II.
Visitors shouldn't expect to find any real-life Rambo, however.
The college is a place where most of the men and women seem to wear thick glasses, and the onduty guard reads "The Foundations of Biblical Authority" at his desk
The officers have all been commissioned, taken basic and advanced courses in their Army branch, and graduated from the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, also at Fort Leavenworth, Wray said.
Jerry Hutchison, KU associate vice chancellor for academic af-
The 871 students were selected by a board that reviewed the records of all eligible officers and chose the top 40 percent, Wray said. Most entered the Army in 1975 and have the rank of major
See RUSSIAN, p. 5, col. 4
Staff writer
By ATLE BIORGE
FORT LEAVENWORTH — The student bent his cleanshaven neck while he slowly worked his way through the Russian text on the table.
Soviet prof drills Army on Russian
But he wasn't translating poetry or a great Russian novel.
"When the left tank anti-tank company stopped in front of the anti-tank ditch which had barred it's path . . . "
Soviet-born Maia Kipp, KU assistant professor of Slavic languages and literatures, this semester began teaching Russian to U.S. Army officers at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth.
Last week, Kipp firmly guided the 11 students seated around the table. She listened intently, interjected Russian words, paced around the room and impatiently drummed her fingers on a chair
The students reacted to Kipp's energetic style with loud comments and waving arms. One stuck out her tongue to jokingly complain.
With a noticeable accent, Kipp said that she didn't think take the step from being a Soviet citizen to teaching U.S. Army officers every Thursday had been anything special.
"I never thought of that," she said, looking surprised. "I just teach them like any other students.
"But it is my firm belief that any language class can be made interesting, and I think we're all enjoying it."
For her students, the material is very interesting in many ways, Kipp said. They want to get a feel for how the Soviets think in order to understand their actions, she said.
Kipp, who was born in Leningrad and lived in the Soviet Union until 15 years ago, still can give them first-hand knowledge about how Soviets think. However, she said she felt more American than Russian now.
"I have become quite estranged to the country, the language and the culture of the Soviet Union.
See LANGUAGE, p. 5, col. 6