MONDAY, OCTOBER 21. 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
KANU fundraiser underway
Station seeks student support to help meet goal
John Studdard, Lawrence resident, takes a pledge call as part of KANU's fund raiser. Studdard, who volunteered Friday afternoon at the KANU building, said he decided to volunteer because he was a long-time listener of the station.
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
By Nathan Dayani
ndayani@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
KANU, the public radio station of the University of Kansas, is in the middle of a fall fundraising drive that started Friday and ends Friday, Oct. 25.
Phil Wilke, media coordinator for KANU, said the station would set its fundraising goal at about $180,000.
Wilke said the Federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting would contribute additional funding proportionate to the amount KANU raised.
Janet Campbell, director of KANU, said private donations, including program underwriting, comprised about a third of the station's budget. She said the federal government and Kansas each contributed nearly a third of KANU's current $1.5 million budget.
Campbell said private donations would pay exclusively for the station's programming and not for premium gifts, such as coffee mugs and T-shirts.
"We're very frugal and very efficient with funding," she said. "If you call in your pledges, 100 percent of your pledge goes to support public radio."
Wilke said about 75 volunteers would work at KANU throughout the week to take pledges.
Bill Beningfield, Lawrence resident, has worked as a volunteer for KANU and said he enjoyed
the station's diverse programming, including classical music shows and Sunday's "My Word," a half-hour show from the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"You're not going to hear that on local rock stations," he said.
Michele Winn, Prairie Village senior, said she enjoyed the station's jazz shows.
"There aren't really a lot of other stations that play that good quality jazz," Winn said. "It's a lot better than the smooth jazz stations my dad listens to."
Wilke said people could make donations between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, but if necessary, the station will take donations between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.Friday.
The station suggests a range of donation levels. Student pledges at KANU cost $20 and include a semi-annual newsletter.
To make a donation, call 1- 888-KPR-KANU.
KANU to expand to Manhattan area
Edited by Matt Norton
KU students near hostile Manhattan turf will soon find a friendly voice on the radio.
Kansas Public Radio will open up a new station, KANV, in the Manhattan and Junction City area by the first week of November, said Janet Campbell, director of KANU.
However, Campbell said the new station's launch could be delayed if harsh weather interfered with installing the station's antenna.
Campbell said the station was part of Kansas Public Radio's FM stations, which consist of KANU in Lawrence at 91.5, KANH in Emporia at 89.7, the new station at 91.3 and a smaller station in Atchison at 89.7.
By Jenna Goepfert
jgoepfert@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
— Nathan Dayani
Religious group alleges discrimination by Senate
A religious group petitioning Student Senate for funding has withdrawn its proposal, saying Senate discriminated against it.
Jay Rock Campus Ministry, a student group affiliated with t he e
Lawrence Church of Christ, requested Oct. 8 via Senate Listproc that its petition to help finance a retreat in early November be withdrawn.
Graduate student senator David Mitchell said the Senate talked about the credibility of the group, but that did not influence the amount of money the group would have been given if the petition continued through the legislative process.
"They were trying to bring up heresy, telling lies about people in our ministry," said group member Steve Stevenson, who helped present the bill to Student Senate.
"They felt they were being singled out as a religious group, and there had been some talk about them being cutish," Mitchell said. "They felt we were giving them extra scrutiny."
Jay Rock, which has been a registered student group for two years, first presented a petition requesting $2,400, including $1,200 for two speakers at the retreat, $200 for note pads and
$400 for events packets.
According to Senate rules and regulations, those items on the proposal could not be reimbursed using Senate funds because they were not viewpoint neutral, a standard set by a March 2000 Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed any organization access to Senate money, regardless of religious or partisan affiliations.
Kyle Johnson, chairman of the Senate finance committee, which first received the bill, said the original petition had to be pared down to comply with viewpoint neutrality, leaving only a $600 printing supply request on the bill.
"I don't know why they pulled the bill, because I think it would have gone through for $600." Mitchell said.
The rule states Senate money can be used for office supplies and photocopying expenses but not for specific religious activities such as buying Bibles or paying for worship services.
Mitchell said the viewpoint-neutral policy had been troublesome, because giving financial support to one religious or political group for any purpose could be construed as supporting those beliefs.
But before a full Senate session could consider the petition, the group decided to withdraw the request, because it felt committee discussions had been unconstructive.
"It's a really delicate tightrope." he said.
"The finance committee
JAY ROCK
Jay Rock Campus Ministry is a student religious group affiliated with the Lawrence Church of Christ. The group holds bible discussions and Friday worship services.
especially is always hostile toward funding requests," Mitchell said. "We're guardians of student money so everything comes under intense scrutiny."
He did not think Jay Rock had been mistreated in the petitioning process.
Amy Cummins, graduate student senator, sponsored the bill and said she thought questions raised by senators about the group's credibility and intentions for the money likely had kept the group from proceeding.
She said she was disappointed full Senate would never hear the petition.
Stevenson acknowledged any religious group would have been met with controversy during the petitioning process, but he said the treatment the group received was unfair.
"I'm not angry or anything, but I just feel like we're trying to accomplish this event and trying to make it a great event, so it was distracting to try to continue the process," he said.
Stevenson said the group ultimately chose to withdraw the bill because the return on its investment of time was not there.
Edited by Ryan Malashock
News. Now.