The University Daily
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
KANSAN
Thursday, September 16, 1982 Vol.93, No.19 USPS 650-640
Student Senate bypassed on bus pass fare rise
By DON KNOX Staff Reporter
The Student Senate never approved this fall's price increase in student bus passes, David Adkins, student body president, said yesterday. The student cause was necessary to keep up with rising costs.
The unapproved increase will bring in an estimated $27,700 in additional revenues for the KU on Wheels bus system, according to figures provided by the Senate office.
"The bottom line is that I haven't made it a personal priority to see that the transportation board was meeting its responsibility." Adkins said. "That board, whose responsibility it is to introduce a budget, has been more or less inactive."
Steve McMurray, coordinator of the transportation board, said, "We should have gone through the Senate but we didn't. It's as simple as that."
THE TRANSPORTATION budget, which was approved by the office of student affairs and admissions, is administered by the
increase of five cents and a $5 increase — from $30 to $33 — in unlimited ride bus passes
The proposed budget, including the fare increase, was originally scheduled to be discussed at an August meeting of the Student Senate Executive Committee. Adkins said.
Mc Murry, however, was absent from the meeting and not available to introduce the budget because he was out of town when the meeting took place.
When he returned, he forwarded the budget to the office of student affairs. Adkins said. The office of student affairs approved the budget, and neither the Senate nor StudiEx had accepted it.
McMurry, who was first named transportation board coordinator in 1974, said yesterday that the increase was necessary because of a need for more traffic it takes to keep a bus circulating for one hour.
And raising bus bafes, McMurry said, was the only logical thing to do.
"IT WAS IMPORTANT that the increase come through the fare box and not through an increase in the student transportation fee," he said. All the students pay $6 to support KU on Wheels.
McMurray said KU administrators were wary about any increase in tuition, especially because a 20-percent tuition increase, approved by the Board of Regents, will take effect next fall.
"The fare increase was really the only way to keep the buses rolling." McMurray said. "And it makes the users, not all the students at large, pay for the service."
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said problems with the transportation budget and the unapproved fare increase were just part of a continual problem his office has encountered with Senate budgets during the past five years.
"I don't want to single out the transportation committee as being the problem child," Ambler said yesterday. "I am saying that student transporters are the semi-automous agencies are doing."
ALL SENATE BUDETS must be processed and approved by the office of student affairs. Those budgets, Ambler said, are supposed to be turned in by May 1 of each year.
"Like all the other Senate budgets, an transportation budget was delayed," he said, notwithstanding a Senate vote.
find out until this fall that StudEx never approved it."
"They inherited these problems and they have made some tough decisions in seeing that they won't happen again," he said.
Ambler, however, praised Adkins and the senate for their leadership in preventing future
Adkins said the budget, which essentially already has been enacted because of the bus system's contract with the Lawrence Bus Co. and passed to the Senate at Tuesday's meeting for discussion.
"MY PERSONAL FEELING is that the budget is sound and should be approved." Adkins said. "But people in Senate should not be compelled to vote for it because it has already been enacted. They might want to exercise some authority over the transportation board and figure out just how something like this was able to slip through."
Adkins said that although the Senate could vote to refund money if the budget was not approved, it would be easier to lower bus pass taxes than to lesser to make up for any legislative errors.
"Certainly they might want to exercise that
option. "Adkins said. "They may not only choose to repeal the fee increase, but perhaps make a sizable reduction."
Still, Adkins said, he is perplexed that the budget and fee increase could be approved by the office of student affairs, yet never be seen by the Senate.
"There was no bad faith effort involved," he said. "But I can't believe that a problem like this could exist. It is something that should not be allowed to be overlooked."
Both McMurry and Adkins said the transportation board, which has not met last fall, would be re-installed before Oct. 1. The Senate office, Adkins said, is currently seeking applications from any students who would like to be members of the board.
DESPITE THE fare increase, McMurry said, bus ridership is still at normal levels for this time.
Attorney general might put off quorum opinion
Mc Murry said there had been 70,738 student rides since school started until Aug. 31. From Sept. 1 to Sept. 13, he said, there were 63,192 student rides.
"Right now we're running a little bit behind the average September," the McMurray said. "But on Monday we've got it."
By DOUG CUNNINGHAM Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
*n Assistant to Kansas Attorney General Robert Stephen said yesterday that issuing an opinion on the legality of the Lawrence City Commission's proposal to raise its quorum might be deferred until after the election to counter charges the opinion would be affected by
The commission voted Tuesday night to adopt on first reading an ordinance raising its quorum
The ordinance cannot go into effect until after the second reading.
Some commissioners said at the meeting that some prisoners would be a political one because this is not their business.
THE COMMISSION decided in the same motion to ask the attorney general for an opinion on raising the quorum and to defer the second reading of the ordinance until the opinion was
the weirman, administrative aide to Stephan, said, "That's nonsense. They are fair and accurate legal opinions based on the law. I did talk with the attorney general earlier today and asked him what he was saying in commission, he would be happy to withhold issuing the opinion until after the election."
The Kansas open meetings act prohibits any prearranged meeting by a majority of a quorum of any public body, such as a city commission, subjected to the act.
Because the present quorum of the city commission is three commissioners, a prearranged meeting between two or more members is not open to the public is a violation of the act.
SOME COMMISSIONERS have said that changing the quorum from three to four, which would make a majority of a quorum three times more likely, is an appropriate commission business with each other privately.
Commissioner Nancy Shontz, who has supported raising the quorum, said she wanted to be able to exchange information with other commissioners.
The act discriminates against public bodies with five or fewer members, Shontz said.
People in public bodies with larger membership, and therefore larger quorum, are able to do this.
"We're asking to be able to talk to each other," she said.
Shontz said no commission decisions would be made in private.
Weerman said the spirit of the act that public business should be done in public, informs the people.
"THE OPEN MEETING* act applies to discussion as well as action," he said.
Commissioner Don Binnis, who has opposed the arrest of another other commissioners were trying to evade the
He said, "I think it's a deliberate attempt to evade the open meetings law. I don't think it's just an incident."
Bims said he would write a letter to Stephan giving his reasons for opposing raising the quota.
He said adopting the ordinance raising the quorum on first reading was bad public relations. The public will think the commission should adopt the ordinance regardless of objections, he said.
Stephan's legal opinion on the quorum will not be affected by politics, Bimbs said.
COMMISSIONER TOM GLEASON said the quorum issue never should have been sent to the managers.
Asking the attorney general for an opinion only delays action on raising the quorum, he said.
Gleeson also said the issue of raising the quorum had been blown out of proportion.
Weerman said the attorney general's office had not yet received any official communication from the city commission. He could not say when he issued on the quorum matter might be issued.
Jim Hackett, Kansas City senior, studies calmly outside Watson Library yesterday afternoon after the building was evacuated by fire.
RICH SUGG/Kenean Staff
responded and searched the building while students and library employees waited outside.
Lawsuit decision may mean less cash for KU
Steve Lanki, Lincoln, Neb., junior, works on a sketch for his Drawing II class outside the Arts and Design building Tuesday
By DARRELL PRESTON Staff Reporter
afternoon.
The outcome of an antitrust case, which was made public yesterday, could mean less TV revenue for KU athletics and more revenue for
BEN BIGLER/Kansan Staff
"Football on television could become a chaotic free-for-all, with some teams getting left out." Dave Cawed, National Collegiate Athletic Association spokesman, said yesterday.
powerhouse teams like the University of Oklahoma, athletic officials said yesterday.
Oklahoma and the University of Nebraska could be on television every week, while other Big Eight teams would be on television only when matched against these two, Cawed said.
The ruling on the case, which would become effective for the 1982 football season, said the NCAA was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act because schools own their football teams and had the right to negotiate their own TV contracts.
Sid Wilson, KU sports information director, said KU was looking the situation over to see what was going on.
"RIGHT NOW, we're not hurting on the NCAA deal," Wilson said. "We're getting a game every year and are getting a share of Oklahoma and Nebraska's income."
At a June 1882 trial in Albuquerque, N.M., federal district court, attorneys for Oklahoma and the University of Georgia argued before U.S. District Judge Juan Burciaga that the NCAA had a monopoly of the rights to college football television contracts.
The NCAA would have 30 days to to file an appeal, and in its appeal it could file a motion to the United States Court of Appeal.
A stay would prohibit the schools from signing their own TV contracts until after the appeal.
Cawood said the NCAA would appeal the ruling, which was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court.
AT THE END of the season, the league divides the TV receipts from the games between the schools in the league, Wilson said. Schools compete for hares for each game broadcast from its school.
"I think the schools are wanting to get a bigger share for themselves." Wilson said. "The schools that make the money would like to keep them in school and get to have a little more for what they contribute."
"ONLY 20 PERCENT of the NCAA's budget comes from TV revenue," he said. "Without the control, TV stations and networks could deal with schools that would require many schools would be left out. It would be open season for CBS, ABC, ESPN, Turner Broadcasting and even WIBW."
The NCAA controls are needed to prevent an imbalance of TV appearances, he said.
"I'm sure a team like Kansas could even arrange something the same way in Kansas
Jeal Seal, assistant sports information director at the University of Oklahoma, said he agreed that some major college football powers could negotiate to put all of their games on TV.
"Oklahoma and Georgia felt like it was their right to negotiate their own contract and that they shouldn't be told what to do by the NCAA," Seal said.
Seal said that it could mean more money in the long run, but money was not the only reason for it.
Cawed said the ruling would hurt NCAA schools more than it would hurt the NCAA.
Weather
southeast at 10 to 15 mph.
Today will be partly cloudy. The high will be around 70. Winds will be from the northeast by midday.
Tonight also will be partly cloudy. The low will be in the low to mid-50s.
Tomorrow will be partly cloudy. The high
will be in the mid- to upper 70s.
(4)