Tuesday
December 10, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 74
Today's weather 49°
Tuesday: 28'
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
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KANSAN
No.20 Kansas men's basketball team faces No.17 Tulsa tonight
Music school looks to fill vacant spots
By Jenna Goepfert
jgoepfert@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The School of Music is trying to fill four faculty positions that will be vacated this May.
Students are concerned by the recent faculty turnover, but school officials say it's not unusual.
"That's just the normal ebb and flow," said Vickie Hamilton-Smith, director of communications for the school of fine arts. "People see opportunities and they leave, just like people see opportunities here and come. Students shouldn't be afraid."
ship
Last semester, two of three vacated positions in the music department were filled, and all eight open faculty positions were filled the previous semester, she said. The music department has about 60 faculty members.
Story by Kyle Ramsey Illustration by Joel Pfannenstiel
Timothy Oliver, director of the Marching Jayhawks, submitted his resignation to the school last week. Alice-Ann Darrow and Christopher Moore, both professors of music, have taken positions at Florida universities. John Boulton, professor of music, is retiring in May.
"The marching band has strong historical tradition." Hamilton-Smith said. "Our professors are established and well-respected in their fields. I think the students just don't see the big picture."
SEE MUSIC ON PAGE 3A
Hamilton-Smith said she didn't anticipate difficulties filling the vacant positions because of the school's national reputation. U.S. News and World Report ranked the program 12th among those at public universities.
Percussion major Seth Rowoldt, Lincoln, Neb., senior, said he was frustrated by all the new faces and thought budget problems were forcing professors to leave — something Hamilton-Smith didn't deny.
"Money always helps a program," she said. "With budget cuts, it is tough to recruit people."
moved to Madi-
gram was
Recent legislative budget cuts indicate an attitude toward higher education that some faculty members say influenced their decisions to leave the University of Kansas.
Russ Shafer-Landau, former associate professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas.
Those faculty said the effects of the cuts on the University made it less attractive and left them wondering whether the Legislature would ever support higher education.
moved to Madison, Wis., in August. Although better pay at the University of Wisconsin was a draw, Shafer-Landau said another reason he left the University after 10 years was because of his perception that Kansas residents don't support higher education with tax dollars.
When he came here, 16 faculty members worked in the philosophy department, which is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. When Shafer-Landau left, the department was down to 12 faculty members, and enrollment in the department's graduate pro-
down. That was a sign of a weakening department, he said.
Worse, he was afraid that the University wouldn't — or couldn't — do anything to fix the emerging problems.
Other professors who've left the University during the last two years have echoed Shafer-Landau's concerns. While all of them emphasized the positives of the University of Kansas — such as support from the KU administration and quality of life in Lawrence
horned quality of lawrence -- the state budget and the lack of taxpayers' dollars to support higher education was a common, high-ranking complaint.
Since 2001,60 faculty members have left the University. Officials are quick to point out the number includes professors who've resigned for a variety of reasons, making it nearly impossible to say faculty are leaving because they are unhappy with the University. While that might be true, some professors who have left for other universities question Kansas' severe cuts to higher education funding and the consequences those cuts bring to University programs.
inflation-adjusted state funding for the University dropped from $7,136 per student to $5,960
Although better pay at the University of Wisconsin was a draw, Russ Shafer-Landau said another reason he left the University after 10 years was because of his perception that Kansas residents don't support higher education with tax dollars.
SEE JUMPING ON PAGE 5A
Rec center to stretch hours
Lindsey Gold/Kansan
By Matt Stumpff
mstumpff@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Joey Blackburn, Parsons senior, works out in Binison Center. When the new student recreation center opens in Fall 2003, it will be available from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Students will be able to work out 18 hours straight next fall when the new recreation center opens.
Construction on the new recreation center, located south of Watkins Memorial Health Center, began in April. The new facility is scheduled to open on time for Fall 2003, said Mary Chappell, director of recreation services.
"I get a lot of people who didn't know it was being built," she said. "They just wonder what that big building is. It's coming and it's going to be exciting."
The center will replace Robinson Center as the primary recreation facility for students, who now have to arrange their work-out schedule around classes in Robinson.
Students who graduate can use the facility for as many semesters as they paid for it because of the student campus fee, which took effect Fall 2000. For example, a student who is graduating in May 2003 and was enrolled at the University for Fall 2000 can use the facility for three years after graduating. The fee for construction of the facility was $15 in Fall 2000 and has been $39 since Fall 2001.
Most of the plans for the building are complete, but some minor details still need to be addressed. Chappell said.
The building will be open for student use from 6 a.m. to midnight every day, with slight schedule changes possible. Chappell said recreation services might extend the hours of the facility in the winter.
Recreation services is still considering different furniture and aesthetic purchases for the building. But other than hiring the building's staff, all other plans are in place, Chappell said.
Stephanie Goettsch won't renew her membership to the Lawrence Athletic Club when it expires in March. The Avoca, Iowa, senior and former Kansan sportswriter, said she worked out there
Some students are already making plans in anticipation of the opening.
Chappell said that whether students could use the facility in August depended on the weather and construction conditions.
"I had tried to go there to workout, and I felt that there were too many people and not enough equipment," Goettsch said.
because Robinson couldn't satisfy her workout needs.
- Edited by Amy Schmitz and Andy Samuelson
By Michelle Burhenn
mburhenn@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The victim of a Friday-morning battery — which he calls a hate crime — wants his case to prevent beatings from happening again.
Jeffrey Medis, 28-year-old Lawrence resident, was struck repeatedly after he left The Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., early Friday morning, Lawrence Police Sgt. Mike Pattrick said. Medis, who is gay, said he thought the battery was a hate crime.
In Medis' 10 years in Lawrence, he said he has been the victim of two other batteries he said were hate crimes and he wanted them to stop.
"It's ridiculous," he said. "It shouldn't be happening."
Medis was waiting outside the bar as a few of his friends were inside getting their coats when he was attacked about 1:30 a.m. Friday, he said.
"I remember walking out of the door and that's it," he said. "Within a minute and a half, I was lying in a pool of my own blood."
What Medis remembered next was
Patrick said at least one person struck Medis, but there may have been more people involved. Patrick said police did not know whether a weapon had been used.
waking up at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. His jaw was broken in two places and he was missing two teeth. He also had a fractured eye socket, fractured nose and a lot of swelling and dental damage.
Medis said he thought several people and a weapon had been involved.
"That's a lot of damage for one person, unless you're a professional boxer." Medis said.
Matt Sullivan, manager of The Replay Lounge, said he thought Medis was targeted because he was gay.
"Otherwise it doesn't make sense," said Sullivan, who has managed the bar for five years. "I've never seen anything like it."
Although the battery happened outside of the bar, Medis said he didn't think anyone from the bar was involved.
"I've known the majority of those people in there for years," he said. "They're all friends."
SEE BEATING ON PAGE 5A
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