Campus
New smoking law 'protects health'
By KEITH ROBISON
Staff writer
Smokers, take your butts outside. That's the one sure place on campus where smoking is permitted
As of July 1, smoking is not allowed in campus elevators, restrooms, hallways, waiting lines, stairwalls, locker rooms, classrooms, auditoriums, libraries, teaching laboratories, copy rooms or employee lounges, according to state law and a new campus policy stated in a memorandum distributed on July 7 to campus faculty and staff
The memorandum was from Del
Shankel, executive vice chancellor.
Shankel said, "It's partially designed to place the University in compliance with the new state law. It's also something the University was developing on its own.
"It's mainly to protect the health and comfort of people in confined areas."
Smoking is not allowed in enclosed conference rooms unless all occupants agree, the rooms have floor-to-ceiling walls, closeable doors, adequate ventilation and are rarely visited by others, according to the new campus policy.
The memorandum stated that smoking would be permitted in lobbies that are partitioned off from adjoining rooms and offices in such a way that smoke could not drift into an adjoining confined area. Also, the area must be large enough that non-smokers can stay a comfortable distance from the smokers.
Enclosed work areas or conference rooms where space is shared by two or more people will be designated non-smoking. However, if all occupants agree, and if such areas have floor-to-ceiling walls, closeable doors, adequate ventilation and few visitors, smoking can be permitted.
KU SMOKING POLICY
Smoking is prohibited in the following general access areas:
1. In confined areas such as cashier waiting lines, elevators, restrooms, locker rooms, hallways, stairwells copy rooms and employee lounges.
2. In classrooms, auditoriums, libraries and teaching laboratories.
3. In cafeterias and dining rooms except in designated areas.
4. In supply areas and central locations for records or files.
5. Where combustible fumes can collect, such as in garage and storage areas using chemicals or solvents, and all other designated areas where an occupational safety fire or health hazard may exist.
Smoking is also permitted in private offices if all occupants of an office agree, and if the office has floor-to-ceiling walls, closeable doors and adequate ventilation.
KANSAN GRAPHIC
In his memorandum, Shankel asked smokers to refrain from smoking in smoking-permitted areas when non-smokers were present, but was not required.
Kenneth Stoner, director of student housing, said that a smoking policy for the residence halls was still being discussed.
"we haven't put out a statement yet," he said. "We still have to come to grips with how we're going to handle the posting of that.
"We'll have to rely on the majority to cooperate. Enforcement will be difficult. We'll rely on the good will and spirit of all people in the support of the new law."
Stoner said enforcing the new policy would not be easy.
"All the areas that aren't posted were smoking-allowed areas. With the news laws, that is reversed. There has to be a smoking-allowed sign in that area."
Shankel said in a recent interview that he was "largely hoping for voluntary compliance with the policy. We're not going to say that we're going to instruct the campus police to enforce the policy."
The smoking policy in Wescoe cafeteria has not changed.
The western one-third of the cafeteria is designated as a nonsmoking area. Smoking is allowed everywhere else in the cafeteria.
Kate Oshel, a caterafer employee,
said. "There's nothing different. It's
still the same. There's a little area
for non-smokers and all the rest is for
smoking. I think it should be turned
around."
Osshel she was a non-smoker. In the memorandum, Shankel inscribed that he would at least one area in each building should be designated as a smoking area.
Smoking cessation classes will be made available at no charge to KU employees who want to quit smoking. For information and to schedule attendance, contact Personnel Services, 864-4946.
Changes cause parking cost increases Added spaces may reduce congestion in campus lots
Group one and two violations include not having a valid parking
Fines for group one and two parking violations also will increase, from $7.50 to $10, if paid within 15 days of receipt of the violation. If paid after the 15-day cutoff point, the fine would be $15, up from $12.50.
Two employees of the University of Kansas, who said they often had witnessed the waste of human life caused by alcoholism, have reacted by attempting to reduce that waste at KI!
Scholarship hall residents will benefit from a new 29-space parking lot near Jolliffe Hall.
Special to the Kansan
By JEAN KETTER
University policies to offer solutions on staff alcoholism
The remaining 24 spaces will be for housing department employees at the housing building on 15th Street.
Tom Anderson, director of facilities operations, and George Wedge, professor of English, both have worked to establish policies at KU to protect the University and its employees from what they call the damaging effects of alcohol abuse on the job.
The bad news is that the costs of parking stickers and fines is going up, said Donna Hultine, assistant director of parking.
Effective Aug. 1, blue zone parking permits will increase from $23 to $70 a year. Red zone permits will increase from $45 to $55, yellow zone permits from $35 to $40, and residence hall and University housing permits from $20 to $23. Campus passes will be $30 this semester, up from $17. Red motorcycle permits will increase from $20 to $25, and blue motorcycle permits from $20 to $30.
Special to the Kansan
Parking lot improvements and 466 new spaces in campus lots should make the regular morning scramble for a parking space more civilized, but drivers will pay for their peace of mind through more expensive parking stickers and higher parking fines.
Anderson said he began to work to establish an employee assistance program for his department in 1981, after he was shaken by an incident involving an elderly facilities operations employee.
permit, parking in the wrong permit area, having a mutilated permit, and others.
By KATHI POLCAR
Special to the Kansan
Don Kearns, director of parking,
said commuters would benefit from the addition of 413 parking spaces in lots 91, 94, 72 and 90. Lots 91 and 94 are, respectively, east and southeast of Memorial Stadium. Lot 72 is between Green Hall and Anschutz Sport Pavilion and lot 90 is bordered by Naismith Drive on the west, Missouri Street on the east, 18th Street on the south and the Robinson tennis courts on the north. All the lots are designated for the use of cars with yellow parking stickers.
Kearns also said that some lots had been improved.
- Don Kearns director of parking
The man had had an excellent employment record until the death of his wife, Anderson said. Following her death, the employee apparently began drinking on the job. One day, the man's superior discovered him sleeping with alcohol on his breath.
been improved. The lots near Ellsworth and McCollum residence halls and the lot by Irving Hill Road west of Iowa Street have been repaired and new curbs installed, Kearns said. The lighting for the lot west of Iowa Street has also been improved, he said.
'We're trying to provide better services. Future parking department plans include spring construction of a fourlevel garage on the south side of campus.'
The parking department will have spent $311,446 on the improvements, Kearns said. The money was raised entirely from parking fees, coins in parking meters, tolls and parking fines.
The improvements are among the recommendations made by parking consultants who came to campus last year to study the University's parking needs.
"We are getting a lot of support from (the office of) facilities planning, (the department of) facilities operations, University administration and outside contractors." Kearns said. "Without all these people's support, we couldn't make it.
The department of parking has been on a tight schedule in order to complete all projects by Aug. 17, when the residence halls open, Kearns said.
"We're trying to provide better services. Future parking department plans include spring construction of a four-level garage on the south side of campus."
Anderson helped put the man in an alcoholism program at a Leavenworth hospital. While the employee was being treated for alcoholism, doctors discovered that he also had diabetes. After being treated for diabetes, the employee refused to return to the alcohol ward. He was dismissed from the hospital and died soon after, Anderson said.
Anderson said the man might not have died if he had been confronted earlier and offered better treatment
Anderson has been instrumental in setting up an employee assistance program for unclassified KU personnel, which includes faculty and professional staff members. The program will begin this fall.
It is modeled after a program that has existed for years in the department of facilities operations.
The facilities operations employee assistance program provides help to the department's employees who are involved in other problems. Anderson said.
When Bence Williams, personnel director at facilities operations, hears about an employee whose work performance has slipped, Williams speaks with the employee about the problem and available help.
Pamphlets are circulated so new employees know where they can get help. Williams' office also mails a letter to each employee's home explaining the policy.
The new policy for unclassified personnel provides a strict procedure for dealing with employees suspected of having drinking problems. The steps in this procedure include an initial informal conference with the employee to set up a time period in which his work behavior should improve.
If the employee's job performance improves within that period, no further action is taken.
If, however, the employee's performance stays below acceptable standards, and if he has refused to seek treatment or has failed to respond to it, he is given the option of entering in-patient treatment, taking a leave without absence, taking early retirement or resigning.
The policy states that if an employee refuses these options and is unable to improve job performance, he may be dismissed.
Creation of the unclassified staff policy began nearly two years ago when Robert Cobb, then acting executive vice chancellor, appointed a committee with Wedge as chairman
Wedge said, "The committee's purpose was to give a uniform way for complaints about professional staff behavior to be handled."
san officer, comprised of students, faculty and other unclassified personnel, began by writing to universities and colleges similar in size and demographics to KU and asking them for samples of their policies. Wedge said.
Wedge drafted a policy and the committee revised it. Then the University attorney and the Senate Executive Committee reviewed it, and the Chancellor approved it.
The policy, with a letter of explanation from Del Shankel, then acting executive vice chancellor, was sent in July to all unclassified personnel
The adoption of an alcohol policy for unclassified staff means that all of KU's employees now are covered. David Lewin, director of the office of personnel services, said, "The unclassified staff policy follows almost identically the procedure recommended for classified employees." Classified employees are civil service workers.
Wedge said that the policy was designed to protect both employees with problems and the money and time the University had invested in its employees.
"We wanted a policy that was most humanely interested in individual faculty members, and that also protected the University from harboring individuals who were alcoholic," he said.
Both the facilities operations and the new unclassified staff policies state that an employee can be confronted only for work-related problems.
"The focus of our program is the correction of difficulties at work only." Williams said. "These difficult tasks demand hardness, tardiness and poor performance."
Another difficulty both Wedge and Anderson encountered in establish-
See Program p. 6, col. 1
Local authors write roadside travel guide
By KATHLEEN FADDIS Special to the Kansan
Special to the Kansan
According to the book Roadside Kansas: A Traveler's Guide to Its Geology and Landmarks, Mount Oread, the majestic hill upon which the KU campus sits, once had another name: Hogback ridge.
The book, written by Rex Buchanan and Jim McCauley and photographed by John Charlton, is for the traveler who thinks this kind of information is just as interesting as the road signs to the next gas station. The book was published this summer by the University Press of Kansas
Buchanan, the assistant director of publications and public affairs for the Kansas Geological Survey, said the book grew out of another book he edited in 1984. Kansas Geology. One of that book's most popular features was a guide to Interstate Highway 70.
The authors wanted to make the point that there were things of interest in Kansas, though "they may not jump out at you like the Rocky Mountains," said McCauley, a staff geologist at the Kansas Geological Survey.
The authors expanded on that idea for this book by logging nine Kansas highways, using the posted mile markers as guideposts. They chose well-traveled highways that cut through interesting geological formations.
Buchanan said they wanted to reach more than just a scientific audience, and create something for everyone.
"We sort of wrote it to please ourselves," said Buchanan. They tended to put in information they already knew, what they thought was interesting or people ought to know, he said.
Rex Buchanan, left, and Jim McCaulev are the authors of Roadside Kansas.
Although the book's primary focus is geology, the authors added other
One of the things that stuck: Charles Lindbergh used to barnstorm in and visit friends in Bird City, so the town used to be called "Lindbergh's playground."
facts about history, culture, plants and animals that they thought were interesting. "Jim calls it throwing stuff against a wall to see if it sticks," said Buchanan, who also is a lecturer in the School of Journalism.
And, McCauley said, when Tonto called the Lone Ranger "kemo sabe," he was using a phrase from the Potawatomi Indian tribe of Kansas meaning "trusted friend."
But the authors emphasize that the book is more than a string of miscellaneous trivia.
Both authors said they never doubted they had a good idea. But Buchanan admitted, "When you wake up in the middle of the night in a motel in Hugoton, Kan., with two other guys, you sometimes wonder what you're doing there."
"We consider it basic and essential facts of Kansas history," said McCauley.
When the book was finally printed in May, "it should have been covered with bits of flesh and blood, because that's how it felt," said Buchanan. It took three years to complete the book.
The book sales have gone much better than the Press expected, said the authors. Of the 3,600 copies printed, almost all have been sold. Susan Schott, of the University Press, said the Press would be ordering about 4,000 more copies soon.
McCauley said some changes would have to be made in the reprint. Two old bridges they cited have been destroyed, one by flood, the other when it was hit by a tractor-trailer. Also, an old chalk monument in western Kansas called the "Sphinx"
fell over from natural causes. McCauley said Charlton suggested the call book Vanishing Kansas.
Buchanan said he thought his and McCauley's varied interests made the book more alluring, because they each added their own special touches. "I think Jim knows every cactus species ever invented," he said.
The authors said they had remained good friends despite the long hours on the road together. McCailey said they had no problems working together because they had the same interests, beer, baseball, and barbeque.
Concerning baseball, McCauley said he had noticed a surprising number of baseball fields in aerial
photographs of southeastern Kansas. So, Buchanan did some checking and discovered that an inordinate number of professional baseball players were from the area.
According to Buchanan's research, by 1985, 161 Kansans had played in the major leagues. One native son, Walter (Big Train) Johnson, whom McCauley called the most famous pitcher in the history of baseball, has a sandstone formation named for him in the southeastern Kansas county of Montgomery. Johnson played with the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927.
See Book, p. 6, col. 1
While traveling across Kansas,
NEBRAFA
[Na]₂[I₂]₃[N]₄[R]₅[T]
Jephah
St. Francis
Ouverill
Philipsburg
Bettleville Harveyville
Hewlett
Goodland
Oakley
U.S. 36
U.S. 81
Junction City
Tumba
Lawrence
1.70
Council Grove
Gatthorn
Milwaukee
1.50
Emporia
Great Bend
McPherson
U.S. 36
Garden City
Ulysses
U.S. 160
Dodge City
Wichita
Fort Scott
U.S. 140
Pittsburgh
Whiners
Meade
Coldwater
Medicine Lodge
Winfield
Independence
Lamar
The nine highways covered by road logs in Roadside Kansas
1