Wednesday inside
The search is on... Chancellor Robert Hemenway has announced the funding for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to search for two new religion professors this fall. PAGE 3A
Student arrested
Lawrence police arrested a University of Kansas student yesterday after he reported a robbery. Police say they discovered drugs and paraphernalia in his apartment. PAGE 3A
Firehouse on the horizon
The Kansas University Endowment Association leased land near campus to the city for construction of a new fire station. PAGE5A
Lofty goals for young team
After a better than expected finish to
last season's baseball team three returning players have arnbitions that go beyond the Big 12 Conference. PAGE 1B
Indoor Border War
The Kansas volleyball team travels to Columbia,Mo., tonight to
take on the Tigers in Big 12 Conference play. PAGE1B
Weather Today
sunny
6638
Two-day forecast tomorrow friday 6839 7544
mostly sunny
partly cloudy —weather.com
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 1B
Sports briefs 2B
Horoscopes 4B
Comic 4B
Vol.114 Issue No.30
KANSAN
The Student Newspaper of the University of Kansas
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Union staircase a trip
Contractors to repair irregular stair heights during winter break
By Johanna M. Maska
jmaska@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
If she had taken a tumble down the stairs at the Kansas Union, Michelle Krumrev said she might have sued.
But because she tripped while heading up the stairs yesterday, the Wichita freshman only let out a little squae.
It's not that Krumrey is especially klutzy. The Union's new stairs have been tripping up a lot of people.
tripping up a hot floor During the process of renovating the Union, contractors from McPherson, Inc., of Topeka failed to properly align the building's central staircase. If it were up to code, the Union's new stairs would each be 7 inches high. Instead, the steps
vary in height, meaning the building is not up to code and causing all the stumbling.
"I think we have a beautiful project," said Pat Beard, director of building services for the Kansas and Burge Unions. But any project of this size will have problems, he said.
Beard said students started to complain after they frequently tripped on the Union's main staircase. The safety concerns caused Beard to complain to contractors. He asked them to come back and measure each stair. Because of the contractors' mistake, the staircase will be closed during winter break to bring it up to code.
SEE UNION ON PAGE 8A
Quemby, a former breeder dog, stole a kiss from Trish Noon, Kansas City area coordinator for MO/KAN Boxer Rescue. Quemby was placed in a Lawrence foster home until adoption.
Throw this dog a bone
Rescue groups save man's best friend from 'throwaway' culture
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
astairrett@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Nash the Boxer has a nice life now. He sat watching pedestrians through the screen door on a recent lazy Friday afternoon.
noon.
As a stranger walked up the front steps of the porch, he rose to all fours and pressed his nose to the wire mesh. He stepped aside just enough to allow the visitor to slip in the door, and patiently waited for a pat before sinking to the floor for a nap.
Abandoned by commercial breeders and taken to the Humane Society, Nash's history is similar to many purebred dogs who wind up at animal shelters and rescue groups.
In Douglas County, there are several not-for-profit organizations that find homes for these pets, including MO/KAN Boxer Rescue, Internet Miniature Pinscher Service and Keeshond Lovers Unite.
When Greg and Tracy McMillan wanted to adopt a dog, they didn't expect the process to be so extensive.
When the couple moved to Lawrence in mid-July, they learned of Midwest Boxer Rescue. The collection of rescue groups is dedicated to fostering and finding permanent homes for unwanted Boxers in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.
“It’s harder than adopting a child,” Greg ioked, “It was an intimidating process.”
The McMillans found three or four dogs that were older and would get along
with cats listed on the Internet, so they contacted MO/KAN Boxer Rescue, an affiliate of Midwest Boxer Rescues. Liz Phillips, MO/KAN director, lives in Lawrence and immediately began leading them through the grueling adoption process.
process. The McMillans completed a six-and-a-half page application detailing their pet goals and lifestyle. Two days later, their home was inspected by Phillips and a dog to test the home.
dog to test the home. Phillips narrowed the search down to two dogs, one of them in Wichita. The McMillans drove there, and realized they found their pet. One week later, Nash came to live in Lawrence.
SEE DOG ON PAGE 6A
Rivals to clash in can contest
By Steve Schmidt
sschmidt@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Kansas football team will likely head into Manhattan as underdogs on Oct. 25. It won't be the only time, though, that the University will look for an upset against its in-state rival this month.
Starting today and ending on Monday, Oct. 27, the Lawrence and Manhattan Habitat for Humanity centers will vie for bragging rights in an alternative sport; recycling.
The Manhattan chapter of Habitat for Humanity came up with idea of a can collective competition to get a jump start on its recycling program during the fall, its slowest collecting time.
"We thought if we approached
SEE CANS ON PAGE 7A
Classified employees to decide pay source
By Robert Perkins rperkins@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A
A bitter fight over students' money is raging behind the scenes at the University of Kansas.
Facilities Operations workers, custodians and some secretaries, school support staff called classified employees have taken sides in what has become an ugly fight.
Tomorrow, ballots will go out for a second time to determine by simple majority if classified employees want to remove themselves from state civil service and in doing so from the state payroll.
doing so from the university The first vote last May wound up in a tie, 545 to 545. Then, 1,090 of the 1,575 classified employees at the University voted.
As civil servants, classified employees work directly for the state, which controls their pay rates and listens to their grievances.
A lot is at stake in tomorrow's vote. By leaving civil service, classified employees would remove themselves from the state's pay system and put them under the University's system. They could then be given raises by the University, which would bring up the salaries of some of the lowest-paid people on campus.
On the other hand, many classified employees,distrucful of the administration, dislike the control administrators could gain from this and don't want a pay raise if it is paid for by student tuition money.
money. Kathy Jansen, a procurement officer for the comptroller's office and the president of the classified senate, is spearheading the movement to leave civil service. After working in civil service for 29 years, she said she had lost faith in the legislature to properly pay state employees.
For the past three years, classified employees have been deprived of their previously-constant 2.5 percent annual step increase in pay, which rewards experience in the position. According to Jansen, some of the already underpaid workers have fallen below the national poverty level as a result.
"It's been a comforting and in many ways a good system of employment, if it was funded," she said. "But the way we read the tea leaves, it isn't going to be funded."
Because the state controls classified pay rates, the University is powerless to change the situation.
change the situation. Lindy Eakin, vice provost for administration and finance and a member of the Work Group for Alternatives to Civil Service, said he wanted to help change classified employees' situation.
"We'd like to actually pay people what they're worth," he said.
Eakin and Jansen said people were nervous about moving away from civil service because it would mean that
SEE EMPLOYEES ON PAGE 7A