Glory rays
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday September 24,1987 Vol.98,No.24
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
(USPS 550-640)
Dave Niebergall/KANSAN
Sunny spots
Overland Park junior, studies near the Robinson Center tennis courts.
Officials seek to curb BSU party violence
By JAVAN OWENS
Staff writer
While Black Panhelenic groups are trying to forget the incidents that led to the suspension this fall of their parties at the Kansas Union, Jim Long, Kansas Union director, and Ann Eavescole, director
Both Black Panhellenic and KU officials will be reminded of those events at a 6 p.m. meeting today in the English Room at the Union.
"It would be a serious mistake to ignore what happened. Long said "We must evaluate the impact of it."
After an Alpha Phi Alpha party Aug. 29 at the Union, Jenkins Jenkins, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore and an Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity member, was stabbed in the hand.
That incident prompted Brian Dougherty, president of Black Student Union, to invite KU police officials to a BSU meeting Sept. 14 to talk about security problems at Union parties. BSU is an umbrella organization for Black Panhellenic and other groups.
"We ought to think about why we are having these parties. We have a serious problem, and we need solutions fast." Dougherty said Sept. 14.
Black Panhellenic and BSU are among several campus organizations that sponsor parties at the Union. But BSU members said Sept. 14 that the groups' parties presented a special problem because they attracted people who were not KU students, including many students from other universities.
Kim Davis, Delta Sigma Theta member and St. Louis junior, said this week, "We have found that it is the people not from KU who present the most problems at the parties."
Many KU students also attend the parties of other chapters in universities around the Midwest, Davis said.
"One thing we have to consider is what kind of image are we projecting." Long said recently. "Are we doing things at the other universities that make other students want to do them at our school?"
Also, unlike any other parties at the Union,
Black Panhellenic parties last until 2 a.m., Long said.
The lateness of the parties may be what attracts troublemakers, Long said. Even the large concerts in the Ballroom do not present the same security risks as the late-night parties, he said.
BSU and Black Panhellenic members said that
revenue from the Union parties was a significant part of their income.
Up until about three years ago, Long said, there was no need to hire security personnel at Union activities and parties. But increasing vandalism and violence have required more security, Long said.
In the 1985-1986 academic year, the Union suffered $50 worth of damages during late-night activities. Damages skyrocketed to $3,250 in the 1986-1987 school year, including the cost of repairs on the model of the University of Kansas in the Union's lobby. Damages so far this year have come to $260.
"When people cannot feel safe at their own party, the University has a concern, and we have
Long stressed that he wasn't sure whether people attending the parties had caused the
Last February, Eversole, Long, KU police and Black Panhellenic members met to discuss what they could do to curb violence at Union parties.
"We talked to the groups in February, but our
See BSU, p. 6, col.
Biden withdraws presidential bid
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joseph Biden ended his quest for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination "with incredible reluctance" yesterday, saying that the revelation of his past mistakes made it impossible for him to continue his candidacy.
Biden withdrew from the campaign after a week in which his campaign was rocked by admissions he made to his claims about his academic record.
The Delaware Democrat is the second candidate to be forced from the race by questions of character and integrity.
"I made some mistakes," Biden told a room crowded with reporters.
"Now the exaggerated shadow of those mistakes has begun to obscure the essence of my candidacy and the essence of Joe Biden."
Biden said he had to choose between continuing his presidential campaign and chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork.
"And although it’s awfully clear to me what choice I have to make, I have to tell you honestly I do it with incredible reluctance, and it makes me angry," he said. "I’m angry with myself for having been put in the position — put myself in the position
See BIDEN, p. 6, col. 3
Biden's withdrawal expected by some
By VIRGINJA McGRATH
Staff writer
The demise of U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden's 1988 presidential campaign came as no surprise to those on his campaign trail, an eye on its recent developments.
"I'm not that surprised he withdrew now. The last stages of these situations seem to come quickly." said John Reher, Lawrence graduate student. Reher said he had intended to attend the University of Kansas campaign at the University of Kansas. But he said the plans had only been in the formative stages.
Allan Ciglar, associate professor of political science, had predicted Tuesday that it was only a matter of time before Biden withdrew his candidacy.
Cigler compared Biden's situation to that of former Democratic candidate Garv Hart.
Biden has been accused of not attributing quotes from some of his speeches, plagiarism during his first year at Syracuse University's College of Law and recent exaggerations about his accomplishments while in law school.
Cigler said, "The thing that ended up knocking him out wasn't the plagiarism or a little bit of fibbing but the way he did it. He was using gestures and a persuasive style, but it was somebody else's stuff."
Cigler said that Biden's withdrawal wouldn't substantially alter the Democratic race.
"As of this point, he wasn't a
factor. But it will be interesting to see if other campaigns make a major effort to go after his people and his money." Cigler said.
Reber said that although the media had given a lot of attention to the dishonesty question, Biden had to assume some blame.
"You get the media microscope on you and it's difficult not to have made a mistake at some point. But he has given me of the responsibility," Reher said.
"Unfortunately, it disrupted what I thought would have been a great campaign." he added.
Eric Levitt, president of KU Democrats, said that although Biden would have been a good president, it was best that he withdrew.
"It was probably beneficial for him and the rest of the Democratic party that he got out so it doesn't damage rest of the 88 campaign," he said.
Levitt, who is organizing a Students for Dukakis group, said Dukakis stood to gain from Biden's withdrawal.
"They had similar views and similar support. So Dukakis should be held accountable."
Michael Davis, dean of law, said that plagiarism at KU was "considered a serious academic offense."
"We have an honor code to which all students subscribe by enrolling in the school," Davis said. Breaches of that code are taken to a committee. Davis then looks at the committee's recommendation before deciding how the situation should be handled, he said.
Science instructors hope for financing
By JENNIFER ROWLAND
Staff writer
Equipment in some KU scientific departments is out-of-date and desperately needs replacement, according to some department heads who are hoping for money from the Kansas Legislature to update the equipment.
"We have mammoth needs at the undergraduate level," said Marlin D. Harmony, chairman of the chemistry department. "Our instrumentation is by-and-large archaic."
If approved, a bill now in the interim Committee on Ways and Means could produce up to an additional $8.5 million for equipment at the University of Kansas. State Sen Gus Bogina, R-Lenexa, who is chairman of the committee, said he expected the committee to make a recommendation on the plan by late November.
The proposal would allow the state to issue bonds to pay for equipment. Bond issues of $10 million, $25 million and $50 million are being considered. The University could receive from $1.7 million to $8.5 million.
The Legislature, which reconvenes in January, would have to approve the bill before money could be allocated to departments within the University.
Tom Rawson, campus director of business and fiscal affairs, said the University received the Legislature's annual appropriation for equipment last April. Administrators then allocated the money to different schools. In 1988, which began July 1, equipment money totaled about $9.8 million.
Harmony said the chemistry department had received instruments from national scientific organizations for research but not recently for undergraduate programs, Harmony said.
He said some chemistry laboratory equipment had been used for decades.
"The major costs would probably come at the sophomore, junior, senior levels where the experimentation is more sophisticated and there is the instrumentation is more sophisticated and expensive," he said.
"The concern is that if you're teaching students with equipment that's 30 or 40 years old, they won't be prepared for the real world," he said.
Harmony said the department's operating budget was used for inexpensive purchases of chemicals, typing paper and glassware, such as Kigai.
"We've got a computer list about ten pages long," he said. "Seldom is anything funded off that list, because there's no money."
Harmony said that if money were available, the department would use it to buy such things as chemical balances, electrochemical apparatuses, electrophoresis meters and modern laboratory microcomputing equipment.
"When we have flexibility we try to save up bits and pieces to make undergraduate instrumentation purchases," he said.
Gunther Schlager, chairman of the division of biological sciences, said his division also was hurting.
"We could spend a million bucks and probably do a reasonable job in inning equipping of the teaching
See EQUIPMENT, p. 6, col. 2
Art teacher takes pride in car-part spiders
By BEN JOHNSTON
Staff writer
The spider was made of steel and bolts — not fur and fangs. But in Bracker's imagination, the 4-to 5-foot-long, rust-colored spider seemed just as alive — maybe more so — than any real spiders that share the yard with his five steel spiders on Route 6, two and a half miles south of Lawrence on Highway 59.
The spiders, which have been in Bracker's yard for eight to 10 years, were made of parts painstakingly collected at dumps in Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Kansas.
William Bracker leaned over to examine the head of one of his prize spiders.
"I brought the parts back to life," Bracker said. "They were once made for a purpose, and now they have a new purpose."
"Notice how the head has a little different color in the middle than on the sides," said Bracker, former KU assistant professor of dentistry. "Sort of like a dog that has different bones on different parts of its head."
"One was from a pickup truck, one from a Ford, another was from an international truck and that one from a Volkswagen. "Bracker said.
The round, sloping bodies of his spiders are made from the transmissions of several long-since abandoned automobiles, Bracker said.
The spiders' grapples, which are made of grappling钩ooks that were once used to pick up bales of hay, vary in size and shape. Some are solid and angular while others are thin and springlike like coils.
Bracker assembled the parts into spiders only after he had spent years searching for just the right pieces, he said.
"Wherever I am, I look for parts," Bracker said. "If I am on vacation, I go to the junk yard.
"I can remember the time and place I found a particular piece. There is a lot of joy involved in learning to create a piece that completes the puzzle."
"I don't know what the stimulus was other than the parts I collected had the possibility of being something with eight legs," Bracker said. "I had to carry it, I had — the junk, the raw materials, the scrap iron."
After all his efforts to collect parts, he did not consciously plan to create spiders, Bracker said.
Bracker, who has taught art at colleges and universities and now owns a pottery and ceramics company, said he did a variety of art work but found working with old parts to be unique.
"I enjoy the challenge of working with an alternative medium," Bracker said. "Not having the materials soft and pliable like clay makes it harder. Old parts can't be altered. They need to be interlocked like a puzzle, but fitted together without being altered."
Bracker said he displayed the spiders on his lawn because he thought they looked good in a natural setting.
Edie Stafford, who lives across the street from Bracker, said, "I love them. I've seen cars go by and slow down, and I don't think they believe what they are seeing at first."
Metal spiders grace the yard of William Bracker, former KU assistant professor of design. Bracker said started motorists often stopped for a second look at the sculptures, which are made of car parts.