University Daily Kansan, November 29, 1982
Page
Legal services offer help to students
ly DONNA KELLER staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Students who do not know where to turn for help with a legal or consumer dispute have at least four services available to them.
Legal Services for Students, the Douglas County Legal Aid Clinic, the Consumer Affairs Association, and the University Ombudsman all offer assistance to students who seek professional advice in solving a problem.
In some instances, the services overlap, and some distinctions among the four are drawn by the legal or authority each does or does not have.
But the directors of each program said the offices worked in cooperation.
LEGAL SERVICES for Students, in the Satellite Union, is funded by the student activity fee and generally provides free legal assistance to students.
Cynthia Woelk, director of the service, said recently that since Legal Services was organized in 1979, it had handled consumer and legal problems of students, such as landlord-tenant disputes, problems with insurance policies, patents, copyrights and trademark laws.
The staff of five includes two attorneys, two student interns from the law school and a legal secretary, but only one attendant on the filing received, Woelk said.
Ayone said the service often was confused with that offered by the Douglas County Legal Aid Clinic, but Legal Services had been used on behalf of the law as legal aid.
"We're not competitive," she said.
"We have similar services, but we aren't associated with the law school, and we're Student Senate funded."
SHE SAID her office handled less litigation than legal Aid, in some cases acting more as an adviser and making referrals to another service.
Legal services takes approximately 1,200 clients a year, Woelk said.
Bob Wason, director of the Douglass County Legal Aid clinic, in Green Hall, said that low-income county residents were the main clients of the clinic.
Most of the work done by the 25 law school interns, under the supervision of professionals, is in domestic relations, which includes divorce, adoptions, child custody or support; and criminal misdemeanors, such as drunken driving, criminal trespass and petty theft, Wason said.
Students often seek help in one of those two areas, he said. Other student problems are often referred to Legal Services.
WASON SAID that of the 1,490 people interviewed from January through October of this year, approximately 620 became clients of the clinic.
To be eligible for the clinic's services, people must meet the Legal Aid Act requirements.
People may not become clients either because they do not meet the economic guidelines, or they have a bad credit. We just give them advice," Wason said.
He said Legal Aid worked cooperatively with other student and community services, such as the Consumer Affairs Association or Legal Services for Students, and would make the appropriate referrals.
The Consumer Affairs Association, with offices in the Kansas Union and at 819 Vermont St., has no legal authority, although it generally acts as mediator in disputes between the consumer and a business.
CYNTHIA HARIS, consumer affairs specialist, said the biggest areas of dispute the office handled were landlord-tenant, auto repair, mail order problems, faulty merchandise, contracts and billing errors.
The office gets approximately 3,000 inquiries a year. Harris said.
The staff often will encourage an individual to handle the problem himself, but if the consumer wants to file a complaint, the office will act as a
mediator between the two parties, she said.
Harris said that if the problem involved possible litigation, her office generally referred the person to one of the legal services in the community.
The association emphasizes consumer education, and among the literature on consumer rights and responsibilities is information on state and federal regulations, new and recalled products, and brochures on current consumer issues.
BRETT TURNER, consumer counselor at the Union office, said students did not use that office as much as the association hoped they would because often students did not think of themselves as consumers.
"We're hoping this office becomes more student oriented." Turner said. "We have a problem being recognized on campus."
or campus.
Much of the literature available in the campus office would be of interest to students, Turner said.
He said most of the students came into the office with questions about lease agreements or landlord-tenant issues.
"If we can't help them, we'll refer them to another agency," he said.
WILLIAM BALFOUR, who has held the position since 1977, directs students, faculty and staff through the appropriation that can help with special exigencies.
As ambudsman, Balfour does not have disciplinary or legal authority, but does have direct access to administrative officials and often will act as moderator with the other party, he said.
He said he talked with about 150 students each academic year, and saw how the students responded.
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Budget cuts may cost KU jobs
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"We'll have that much less money — we'll have to leave positions open longer," said Ward Zimmerman, KU budget director.
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The University of Kansas may not be able to fill vacancies resulting from employee turnover if recommendations from a state agency for KU's 1984 budget are adopted, a KU official said recently.
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By DIRK MILLER Staff Reporter
He said the Kansas Division of the Budget had recommended reducing Gov. John Carlin's lowest budget request for KU by about $130,000.
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Zimmerman said that the budget division's calculations of FICA withholdings and retirement benefits also would leave the University about $261,600 short of the amount needed to make these benefit payments.
David Dallam, an analyst in the budget division, said the division inside the cuts because it "had some cost savings" and the fringe benefits were calculated."
THE BUDGET division is recommending $89 million in general-use funds for KU. The Rogers' recommendation was for $104 million.
Zimmerman said the division also had made more money available by raising the shrinkage percentage for unclassified salaries by 1, percent to 3.
Carlin asked KU to prepare two different general-use budget request levels, below the Kansas Board of Regents' authorized level.
If you would like more information or have any questions about the Student Senate Committees contact the Senate Office at 864-3710.
ZIMMERMAN SAID that 54 classified and 28 unclassified full-time equivalent positions would have to be held by the budget division's recommendation.
HAMILTON IS a member of a committee of state employee studying alternatives to layoffs. The committee has discussed several options open to the schools, she said. These include furloughs, job-sharing, voluntary leaves without pay and early retirement.
Full-time equivalent positions are determined by the Regents. They are derived for each position considering hours, enrollment and job require-
"We had to make it some way," Dallam said.
Budgeted funds usually are saved during the time a position remains vacant and because new employees are usually paid at a lower wage scale than the former employees. The state keeps the percentage of money figured as shrinkage and appropriates the rest to the state agency.
percent. The shrinkage percentage is an estimate of money saved by employee turnover.
THE BUGETD division recommended shifting the money saved by increasing the shrinkage percentage into unclassified salaries.
Keith Nitcher, University director of business and fiscal affairs, said, "We're hopeful that the governor will recommend a level higher than the current benchmark."
Dallam said that the shrinkage percentage was "larger than we've ever had before." Raising the percentage was necessary, he said, to reduce KU's budget to the governor's level.
The budget division's recommendation includes 16 more full-time equivalency positions than Carlin's lowest-level budget request, which eliminated about 98 full-time equivalent positions.
Instead of laying off employees, KU probably will allow positions that are
But, she said, "These alternatives are only temporary."
Nitcher and Zimmerman both said the budget would not be set until April.
Gail Hamilton, president of the KU Classified Senate, also said, "There are alternatives to layoffs."
(paid for by the Student Activity Fee)
"We have 1,130 classified general-use positions and 1,800 unclassified general-use positions. We have attrition."
"This isn't cut in stone," Nitcher said.
left open by resignations and deaths to remain unfilled. Zimmerman said.
"I know of no plans for layoffs," he said.
HAMILTON SAID that she was optimistic that the state's financial problems would be solved.
Stanley Kopil, Regents executive officer, said last week that if the budget division's recommendations were adopted, 245 positions would have to be eliminated from the seven Regents schools.
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