6A=THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2002
INTERRUPTING
PTING
CLASS
SINCE
1889
KANSAN
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Organizations delay registration until Union renovations are complete
By George Schulz Kansan staff reporter
Overall construction at the Kansas, Union is hardly complete, but the finishing touches are only weeks away for the Student Organizations & Leadership Development Center.
Danny Kaiser, director of the center, said construction of the fourth floor office should be completed in late September.
Additions to the office will include an open-air reception area, more cubicle space for organizations to centralize their activities and refurbished main office areas.
Ten to 15 new cubicles will be added to the 15 that already exist and current main offices for student groups and administrators have fresh paint and new carpets. Student organizations will have 120 new mailboxes in addition to the 100 that are already accessible.
Aaron Quisenberry, associate
director of the center, said cubicle space was still available. Organizations registered with the center could apply for the space in the center's office, which is still open during construction, in 400 Kansas Union. The cubicles offer a private phone line and added visibility on campus.
Quisenberry said half of the organizations that typically registered yearly with the center had not done so. Last year, 426 organizations registered and Quisenberry expected more than 400 to register again this year.
Quisenberry said registration did not mean an organization was officially a part of the University, however.
"We don't recognize student groups — we just register them," said Quisenberry. "There is a difference when it comes to liability."
Quisenberry said recognition of individual groups by the University would imply endorsement. But he said registration
gave organizations the chance to plan events on campus, appeal to Student Senate for funding and use university services and facilities.
Partisan political organizations are exempt from the chance to appeal to Senate for funding. But political groups can acquire funding by selling sponsorships to business solicitors who wish to reach student consumers on campus.
Quisenberry said part of the registration process for student groups included determining the political or partisan/non-partisan status of an organization.
Other registration rules require student organizations to be open to all students and have one member of the faculty or staff to advise and approve of the organization.
Quisenberry said student groups organized events through the Events Planning Committee in the center's offices but the center did its own programming.
Later in the semester, the center will offer "Hawk Nights" from 8 p.m. to midnight, which could include games, concerts and movies. The weekend events are designed to offer students an alternative to bars and parties. Quisenberry said "Hawk Nights" had garnered low turnouts among students in the past during the beginning and end of the semester.
The center also organized two informational fairs in the Union at the beginning of the semester to give student groups a chance to distribute information to incoming students.
A partial list of registered organizations is available at the center's Web site, ku.edu/-oitcr, and student groups wishing to register with the University can do so in room 400 on the fourth floor of the Union.
623 Vermont 749-5067
Contact Schulz at gschulz@kansan.com. This story was edited by Katie Teske.
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