Angry skies
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday September 15,1987 Vol.98.No.17
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
(USPS 650-640)
Short add period stays for spring
Staff writer
By MICHAEL HORAK
Students at the University of Kansas will have only two weeks to add classes to their schedules once the spring semester starts, KU officials decided yesterday.
Department heads and deans of KU's professional schools decided to continue a policy started this fall that limited the add period to two weeks. Students need special permission to attend a class once that deadline has passed.
Gary Thompson, director of student records, said the decision to continue the policy was made this early in the semester because of the printing schedule for next semester's timetable. Add-drop policies have to be written in the Spring 88 Timetable, which must be completed by next week.
"It would have been nice to have another week to evaluate this, but we really didn't have the time," Thompson said.
A positive response from KU faculty was the main reason for deciding to continue the policy, several department heads said.
"I'm very pleased with the policy," said James Woelfel, director of the Western Civilization program. "The old policy created a certain amount of chaos. For the first third of the semester, you had students coming into class and you'd have to help them catch up."
In the past, students were given four weeks to add classes. Different departments within the University could place their own limitations for adding certain classes. For example, students from adding physics classes without special permission after the first day of the semester.
Several professors said they would need further reductions in the add period.
Shortening the add period to one
week would be even better," said Peter Casagrande, associate chairman of the department of English. "Students would get into class right away and wouldn't have several weeks of work to catch up."
The sooner that students are required to have their schedules finalized, the faster teachers can get their classes organized, Casagrande said.
I'm very pleased with the policy. The old policy created a certain amount of chaos. For the first third of the semester, you had students coming into class and you'd have to help them catch up.'
James Woelfel Western Civilization director
The policy changes this fall have led some professors to suggest that the University consider reducing the drop period, too. Currently, a student can drop a class until five weeks into the semester. This semester, that date is Sept. 25.
Some professors said they had had students who were enrolled in classes but who did not show up or drop the class until after the add period had ended. Other students could not get into those classes because they had been officially filled.
Thompson said reducing the drop period had been discussed. The University Senate, the campus governance body that sets drop policies, would have to review its rules before changes could be made.
However, Thompson said his office already was offering incentives to get students to drop their classes early in the semester.
BSU looks at ways to end Union fights
Staff writer
By JAVAN OWENS Staff writer
Black Student Union president Brian Dougherty asked the BSU general assembly last night to consider how it might alleviate the fights that sometimes have accompanied its parties at the Kansas Union.
Dougherty and other BSU executive board members invited Capt. Ralph Oliver and Lt. Jeanne Longaker of the KU police to talk about police security at Union parties. But Dougherty cautioned BSU members not to turn the meeting into a persecution session.
"We should think about why we're having these parties," Dougherty said. "We have a serious problem and we need solutions, fast."
BSU is among several campus groups that sponsor parties at the Union. But BSU members said last night that their parties presented a special problem because they attracted people who were not KU students, including many students from other universities. Some of those people start fights, BSU members said.
On Aug. 29, at an Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity party at the Union, James Jenkins, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore and a member of the black fraternity, was stabbed in the hand.
The same night, the sound of three or four gun shots came from the 1200 block of Oread Avenue while police officers there 300 party goers from the Union.
Later, police found a handgun in the parking lot across the street from the Union. But the gun had not been fired that night.
Dougherty said one solution could be to limit parties to KU students. Another solution might be to discipine the KU students who started trouble.
"Can we discipline our own groups?" Dougherty asked of the assembly. "If not, there just may not be any." There is no doubt. There just may not be any parties.
Thousands of dollars in damage has been done to the Union as a result of fights, Longaker said. She said officers on duty at parties were required to check hallways and bathrooms because vandalism had become a critical side effect of some parties.
In the agreement, the groups promised to brief KU police on any potential incidents that could occur at their parties. But Oliver said some of the groups had not kept their side of the bargain.
After Dougherty's opening remarks, Oliver said that groups that rented rooms in the Union had made a commitment with the police last February.
Another problem that Longaker said students should consider was the room in which they held parties. BSU members said they used the Kansas room because that room had a minimal renting fee.
Needles lawsuit will wait
Nick Jackson, Topeka senior, holds an umbrella as he and Scott Packard, Osawatomi senior, practice the University of Kansas fight song. A brief rain shower yesterday afternoon forced band members, who were practicing behind Oliver Hall, to take cover.
Plavin' in the rain
By AMBER STENGER Staff writer
The mother of a Lawrence boy said yesterday she would wait for the results of medical tests before deciding whether to take legal action against the hospital where her son played with used needles.
On Sept. 6, her 6-year-old son and a 7-year-old friend crawled into a dumpster at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine St., and played with disposed hypodermic needles. The needles were used because they had been pricked by the needles. They were pretending the needles were darts.
The dumpster where the boys found the needles did not have a lid.
But Pat Parker, director of pharmacy and chairman of the hospital's infection control committee, said, "The needles are always in a sealed container. They went out in sealed container into our trash can. The kids had to crawl into the trash can and break open the container to get into it."
The 6-year-old's mother said the children had kicked the containers into a fire.
Since the incident, the hospital has replaced its dumper with two vehicles.
The 6-year-old's mother said she was concerned the boys could be contaminated with AIDS. She said she was told that a person had been tested for AIDS the day before the boys played with the needles.
Parker said he did not know whether that was true, but that AIDS testing was common.
"AIDS testing is a relatively common process at most hospitals, and just because a person is screened for AIDS, it is not mean that person has AIDS," he said.
Judith Hefley, hospital community relations director, said last week that the boys had not been tested for AIDS contamination. AIDS contamination is confirmed when AIDS antibodies are found in blood. However, the antibodies can take from six weeks to a year to form.
The 6-year-old's mother said the
student was tested for AIDS in
about month.
Parker said a variety of substances could have been in the syringes the boys played with.
"Probably the most likely things would be saline solutions — salt solutions used for infusions, needles associated with those infusions and needles associated with drawing blood," he said. "If the material that they got into came from the pharmacy, for instance, there might be
See HOSPITAL, p. 6, col. 1
Elizabeth Dole to leave cabinet post
The Associated Press
After meeting with President Reagan for nearly 15 minutes, Dole told reporters she would leave the Cabinet Oct. 1 and would begin campaigning full time for her husband with a 12-state swing through the South.
WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Dole announced yesterday she was resigning as transportation secretary in the Reagan administration to help her husband, Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., win the presidential nomination next year.
"I want to be a major part in the campaign and do everything I can to help."
Some Dole strategists have been pushing for weeks to get Elizabeth Dole, an energetic and popular cam-
At times, Elizabeth Dole has been considered a possible vice-presidential choice, and during the 1984 Republican convention, there was some talk, sometimes only half in jest, of a Dole-Dole ticket.
pager, more actively involved. She has been one of the most sought-after speakers in the Reagan Cabinet and in recent months has spent much of her time on the road. Sen. Dole is expected to declare his candidacy later this year.
"I've been for a Dole-Dole ticket just for economy purposes," the senator sometimes joked in speech, one limousine and one airplane. "I like limoes and one airplane."
In Wisconsin, Vice President George Bush said he wasn't worried about Elizabeth Dole's campaigning
In a letter to Reagan, Elizabeth Dole said the decision to leave the Cabinet came after considerable soul-searching but, she said, "the need to elect a successor who can build on your administration's record of achievement has persuaded me to leave off at this time."
Reagan called her invaluable, but said he understood why she was laid down.
Her departure creates a major Cabinet vacancy with only 16 months left in Reagan's term.
skills. "Listen, have you met my wife? She's good, she's tough, she's able. I have a secret weapon myself." Bush told reporters.
The Transportation Department has been in the spotlight with rising
Sen. Wendell Ford, D-Ky., chairman of the Senate aviation subcommittee, commenting on Dole's resignation, said she has served "through a very important transition" as the airlines were deregulated. He expressed hope that her successor would push for increased financing for measures aimed at increasing air safety.
A possible successor may be Patricia Goldman, a moderate Republican who is vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., who at times has been sharply critical of Dole on automobile safety issues, called her an energetic secretary.
complaints from airline travelers and concern about air safety.
Judge Robert H. Bork definitely isn't a shoie-in nominee for Supreme Court Justice. In fact, Bork probably won't be confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in hearings that begin today, said Pete Rowland, associate professor of political science.
Bork's confirmation by Senate not a sure thing, professor says
By VIRGINIA McGRATH Staff writer
"Bork's interpretations of the Constitution are so out of step with the way most Americans see it." Rowland said. "And I think there are problems with his integrity and temperament. He makes inflammatory statements that would be distinctly inappropriate on the Supreme Court."
See related story p. 2.
"For years he has established himself as a controversial judicial writer. He has shot from the hip a lot. He is an author of unscrupulous legal reasoning." *Rowan*
Bork's chances of confirmation depend on his performance in the hearings, said Rowland and Allan McGill, associate professor of political science.
"The hearings could make or break him. He is said to be an slouget speaker, so he will be a good witness in his own behalf." Rowland said.
Rowland is working on a book about how the politics of judicial appointments affect judicial decisions.
Cigler said, "The vote is likely to be close, but unless there's more information than I'm seeing, it's likely he will be approved. Unless there's something of a character nature that comes out in the hearings."
court's swing vote, so with the new appointment the court could move toward either moderation or conservatism.
Bork holds a conservative opinion on how the Constitution should be interpreted. He thinks the Supreme
Bork's interpretations of the Constitution are so out of step with the way most Americans see
it. Pete Rowland associate professors of political science
Pete Rowland
Bork's nomination has caused controversy for several different reasons. Whoever hits the position vacated by retiring Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. will alter the court's political makeup. Powell was the
Court should follow a strict interpretation of the original intent of the Constitution.
Bork has written in the past that the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment applies only in racial
"You can't differentiate between
situations. The court, however, for more than a century is defined to be a judicial institution.
Bork also thinks that abortion should not have been legalized by the Supreme Court, because such a decision is not in the court's domain but rather in that of individual states. Bork also has written that certain First Amendment rights can be abridged, and that privacy can, in certain instances, be regulated by government.
Controversy over Bork's conservative ideology has led his supporters to say that too much attention is paid to his politics instead of his judicial competence. But sometimes it is difficult to divorce the two, Rowland said.
political philosophy and legal philosophy, because currently the courts are political institutions as well as legal institutions," Rowland said.
Cigler said, "The high court is an important position. The political orientation of the judge has always been taken into consideration."
Both Cigler and Rowland said that President Reagan appointed Bork with political considerations in mind. Bork's politics is only fair, they said.
"It was a political appointment so it became a political debate." Götter said.
Rowland said, "In Reagan's defense, he said when he was campaigning that he would nominate like I博 Kork. That's what he's done."