Friday inside
Senate bill debate
A failed Student Senate bill regarding advertising funding has some student concerned. P
some student organizations concerned. PAGE 3A
Dead bugs at risk
The design of Snow Hall is putting bug specimens at risk. Entomology department
officials are looking for ways to upgrade equipment and protect the bugs. PAGE 5A
Preparing for Tiger hunt The soccer team takes on Iowa State in Ames today before heading to Missouri to continue the Border War on Sunday. PAGE7A
Kansas ranked 11th
The Kansas football team is ranked 11th in the nation in an Oregon State engineering student's football poll. PAGE7A
'Hawks take on Buffaloes
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Vol.114 Issue No.37
Talk to us
Tell us your news. Contact Michelle Burhenn, Lindsay Hanson or Leah Shaffer at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
index
Briefs 2A
Opinion 4A
Sports 7A
Sports briefs 9A
Horoscopes 10A
Comic 10A
KANSAN
The Student Newspaper of the University of Kansas
Friday, October 10, 2003
Classified staff cast votes
With only five more days until all ballots are due, leaders of the Pro-Civil Service Coalition have turned to print to gain support.
Ballots to decide whether University employees will remain on state payroll due Tuesday
By Robert Perkins
rperkins@kansan.com
Kansan staff writers
During the past six months, classified employees at the University of Kansas have been debating whether they should accept an alternative proposal to civil service. If the measure passes, classified employees, who are now employees of the State of Kansas, will become employees of the University.
George Cone, assistant director of Facilities Operations Central Heating, said that the Coalition, which opposed the proposal, ran an ad in The University Daily Kansan because its members felt that those in favor of leaving civil service were suppressing their point of view at
Proponents of the plan say that the University will give them the pay raises that the state has failed to in recent years. Their opponents say that they'll lose the state's protection and will have no one to appeal to if they are treated unfairly.
The first vote in May ended with a tie, necessitating a second vote that will be counted next week.
"We were not given the same opportunity," he said. "You're allowed one question, and if you disagree with them, you're in trouble."
the classified employees' town hall meetings.
ad written by Kathy Coffey, physical plant supervisor for Facilities Operations Steamfitters, that is on page 4A of today's Kansan, Koerner stands by the statements in her original letter.
Cone said the ad and other print sources were necessary to avoid one-sided discussions of the issue.
"No matter what some people read, they're going to think the way they want to think," she said.
The ad caught the attention of Beverly Koerner, administrative specialist for the department of geography, who wrote a letter to the editor that ran in Tuesday's Kansan. Koerner said that the ad contained factual errors.
Koerner said that the wording of the alternative proposal to civil service supported the statements in her letter, and that those against it should read the proposal.
Area clubs lose clients over new rec center
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
astairrett@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Despite a counter letter defending the
The real turmoil, however, came when
Some students who used to frequent fitness centers in Lawrence have been opting to work out on campus instead.
Mary Chappell, recreation services director, the new Student Fitness Recreation Center provided students with a centralized place to work out and socialize.
SEE VOTES ON PAGE 6A
She used the phrase, "For students, about students, by students," or "FAB" to describe the center. Since the center opened on Sept. 29, Chappell estimated 2,200 people visited the center a day.
According to Hartzler, since Body Boutique is so popular among females, the facility is expanding to double its current size. The construction will be complete this February.
Gina Miner, Naperville, Ill. junior worked out at the recreation center yesterday afternoon. She said her membership ran out at the Lawrence Athletic Club and she decided not to renew it. Instead, she started going to the Student Fitness Recreation Center to work out and saw many differences.
"It is more social," she said. "There are more people my age here."
Miner said the student center was a lot bigger than the Lawrence Athletic Club, had better hours and was closer to her home on Tennessee Street.
Ernie Shaw, owner of three Lawrence Athletic Clubs, said student memberships have fallen from 800 to 600 since May and it could cost his business between $20,000 and $40,000 a year. Despite the decrease, Shaw is not worried.
"We will feel it," he said. "We'll just find other ways of making it up."
She said Body Boutique catered to women who didn't want to work out in a competitive, co-ed gym.
Shaw said the Lawrence Athletics Clubs offered more than just memberships. The clubs also offer tanning and health products.
He said although students left, some were starting to trickle back.
Lorinda Hartzler, owner of Body Boutique: The Women's Fitness Facility, 925 Iowa St., said she was not concerned about competition with the new recreation center. She said her facility filled a gap in the fitness industry.
"I think that KU needs a nice rec center for its students," Hartzler said. "Its a service all universities need."
Jamie Karr, St. George senior, teaches aerobics classes for the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department. She also
SEE CENTER ON PAGE 5A
Chappell said that the recreation center's peak hours were between 3:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. She said people come in throughout the day because of the variety.
"I have heard that it is too crowed," he said of the new recreation center.
"People are starting to find their niches," she said.
She said 30 percent of her clientele are University students.
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Kathleen Sebelius: Dream the unimaginable
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
things," she said. "Having a vision, and doing what it takes to make that vision a reality."
BOTTOM: Cathie McLeod, Lenexa junior (left) and Katie McRoberts, Stilwell freshman, spoke to Gov. Sebelius last night after her lecture at the Kansas Union. McLeod, an education major, said she agreed with the governor that education was the foundation for a productive society, one of the Governor's lecture topics.
Governor aims to improve quality of life
By Kevin Kampwirth
kkampwirth@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Kansas is rarely mentioned when speaking of the best states in the country in overall quality of life.
But Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius spoke about her hope to place Kansas among the elite states in the country at a speech last night in the Kansas Union ballroom.
"In one way or the other, we have a wonderful state," Sebelius said. "We have the opportunity right now to make it the best state in the country in the 21st century."
Sponsored by the "Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad Women's Leadership Lecture," Sebelius was the featured speaker of this year's Humanities Lecture Series.
Sebelius outlined the steps that Kansas citizens and lawmakers need to take in order to fulfill this goal. Among her main points were further developing the educational system and balancing the state budget.
"Kansas can be a national leader again," she said. "We want to be considered the best state to start a business and the best place to raise a child."
Taylor, former dean of women at Kansas, and Stokstad, a faculty member at Kansas for over 40 years, helped establish the lecture fund at the KU Endowment Association. The fund supports lectures by prominent women, such as Sebelius, that focus on contemporary women's leadership issues. This is the second lecture in a series focusing on women's issues.
Framing her speech was the role that women play in politics and other positions of power. Sebelius began her speech by thanking the two women that the lecture was named after, Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad.
The Governor credited her father, former Ohio governor John Gilligan, in part for her decision to get involved with politics. She also gave part of the credit to the fact that she attended all-girl schools for her whole life.
"We still don't have enough women in public office in Kansas or in the entire country for that matter." she said.
Sebelius said that Kansas, since its early days, has led the charge of women breaking through into the political world. Even though Kansas ranks seventh in the country for women in legislature, Sebelius said more still needs to be done.
Sebelius added that "this is a great opportunity to dream unimaginable things."
"I'm an accidental feminist in a way," Sebelius said. "Growing up, nobody ever told me that I couldn't do anything men couldn't do."
Abby Brown, St. Louis junior, and Zach Sedigazad, Overland Park junior, attended the governor's speech for extra credit for a class.
"Even though we came really for the extra credit, we're still interested in what she has to say." Brown said.
Throughout the speech Sebelius never strayed from the heart of the speech, making the state of Kansas a better place.
"Right now, we're facing many daunting goals in getting to where we want to be," Sebellius said. "But the pieces of the puzzle are in place and it's my goal to get us there."
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-Edited by Erin Riffey
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