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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PD BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS 66601-3585
Kansan
Thursday
November 6, 1997
Section:
A
Vol. 108 • No. 56
Mostly sunny with a 5-10 mph wind from the southeast
Entertainment today
Morrissey, formerly of the band "The Smiths," sang at Liberty Hall last night. He is touring to promote his album, "Maladjusted."
SEE PAGE 7A
Sports today
Freshman placekicker Joe Garcia has converted nine of 11 field goal attempts, giving the Jayhawk offense 40 points and stability.
SEE PAGE 1B
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
University selected as site for study
Welfare reform to be evaluated
By Mike Perryman
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas will be the federal government's center of study of the effects of welfare reform on people with disabilities.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the University a three- to five-year, $1.2 million grant in
October that will be used to coordinate the National Technical Assistance Center on Welfare Reform and Disability. The center will allow states to learn what other states are doing to reduce the negative impacts of welfare reform on people with disabilities.
"All states are trying to implement changes in funding for welfare reform concerning people with disabilities," said Martin Gerry, principal investigator for the project and director of the KU Center for the Study of Family. "What we are trying to do is identify specific issues that states need to work on."
The Center will study how each state
deals with the effects of welfare reform on people with disabilities. It then will evaluate states' solutions and failures to produce reports for the states and the federal government to use.
The Center will focus on child care, health care and adult education, said James Tramill, an associate research professor in the Institute for Life Span Studies, who will be assisting with the project
"These areas will undoubtedly become severe problems in most if not all states," he said. "What we want to do is try to find out what states are doing to counter these problem areas, document their solutions and present those solutions or ideas to other states that are having problems
dealing with the same issues."
Tramill said that child care was a major problem for welfare recipients with disabilities.
"Working mothers are expected to return to work after 12 weeks, and that is not healthy for the child," he said. "This is not an adequate amount of time, and it is important to discover a better way of accommodating these mothers."
"Child care may be an issue that cannot be controlled or resolved in one state," he said. "But in another state, they may have found a way to deal with it. Those states unsuccessful in dealing with the problem can look to others for guidance and ideas." The Center will place information about
The Center will place information about
each state online for easy access, but it will concentrate on presenting information and solutions to representatives from each state in person. Tramill said.
Gerry said the University would be working with a number of institutions across the country, including the American Public Welfare Association, the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Oregon.
The University of New Hampshire will work specifically on perfecting ways of distributing the information to different states.
The Center should have concrete information about some states by late November and should present its first reports around Christmas, Tramill said.
A University of Kansas student looks out the window of a empty bus while traveling along Jayhawk Boulevard. The student was riding the bus yesterday evening. An extra bus has been added to the Campus Express route because overcrowding during peak hours, which occur in the mornings. During the peak hours, students often have to stand in the aisles or wait for the next bus. Photo by Dan Elavsky/KANSAN
KU on Wheels adds bus to Daisy Hill route
Overcrowding problem improved but not solved
by Tim Harrington tharrington@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The transportation board and KU on Wheels added an additional bus on Monday to the Daisy Hill route to reduce bus overcrowding.
Supplementing the Campus Express route, which runs from Daisy Hill through campus to Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall, the additional bus will run during the morning, the route's highest demand time, said Scott Kaiser, transportation coordinator.
Kaiser said that on average, 4,800 students rode the Campus Express route each day, a number that has grown this year with the opening of Templin Hall.
The transportation board decided the bus, which began running three days ago, was the most cost-effective way to deal with the problem of students being left waiting on Daisy Hill after many of the morning buses already had departed. Attempts to reach Chris Ogle, Lawrence Bus Co. owner, to find out how many buses run on the route were unsuccessful.
The additional bus will run between 8:12 a.m. and 10:12 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and between 7:50 a.m. and 9:50 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The bus will run on half-hour intervals.
Kaiser said the additional bus would cost KU on Wheels about $310 per week to operate.
"We started getting complaints right toward the beginning of the year," Kaiser said. "By the time we get into October, that's when we can start to get a feel for how overcrowded a bus really is."
Kaiser said that as the semester passes, students have more of a feel for where they need to be and when, to catch the bus they need.
"It did get a little better," Rob Bitter, Shawnee freshman and Elsworth resident, said. "They're not overloading the buses like they had been."
"We need to be responsive to the fact that our ridership has changed," Kaiser said.
So far, the ridership has mixed feelings as to whether the new bus has had an impact.
Ryan Knock. St.
"We need to be responsive to the fact that our ridership has changed."
Louis sophomore and Hashinger Hall resident, said the crowded bused had been a problem all year.
"It's still pretty crowded, actually," Knock said.
"There are still a lot more people riding the buses this year. Last year, it wasn't nearly as bad."
Kaiser said that providing service for Daisy Hill is high among priorities at KU on Wheels.
"They're our No.1 customer," Kaiser said. "We want to make sure we take care of them."
Campus Express addition
The additional bus on the Campus Express route should reduce overcrowding on Daisy Hill buses. About 4,800 students ride the Campus Express route each day.
The additional bus will cost about $310 to operate each week.
Resident assistants lose sleep about lockouts
By Sarah McWilliams
mcwilliams@kanson.com
Kansan staff writer
Resident assistants at the University of Kansas want to lock a new room-key policy out of their minds for good.
Under the new policy from the department or student housing, students in the University's residence halls who are locked out of their rooms more than once are required to be escorted by an RA to their rooms.
That means a lot of calls for the RAs to come to the front desk of the hall, often late at night.
"It's a really big problem, especially when you get called at four in the morning," said Katie Donnelly, Lawrence junior and RA at Ellsworth Residence Hall.
During the first few weeks of the semester, she would be called every half hour to escort a student. Donnelly said.
Donnelly said she would try to suggest changes in the policy that would balance the need for security and a way to keep track of the keys with the need for RAs to get some rest.
Donnelly was speaking at a Student Housing Advisory Board meeting yesterday. Kenneth Stoner, director of the department, advised Donnelly to draft an alternative policy for the board to review at its next meeting.
She said she would work on the changes with Coc Van, Wichita sophomore and resident of Jayhawker Towers. Van said that although there were no RAs at the towers, there was a $15 fine after the third lockout.
Kim Grassmeyer, assistant director of student
Donnelly said the fine was too steep.
housing, drafted the new lock-out policy this year. Along with the RA escort, the new policy requires students in the halls to pay a $15 fine after the first time they are locked out.
"In life, people forget their keys," she said. "Sometimes the door blows shut, or your roommate gets mad and locks you out."
Stoner said that under the old lock-out policy, in which students were not fined, students often would check out a key, and it would disappear, forcing the department of student housing to change the lock on the door, which could cost the student as much as $60.
"The RAs do not like this, but we didn't feel like the old way was very secure for us," Grassmeyer said.
She said the new policy did not apply to emergency situations, like a fire alarm, in which students had to leave the building quickly and had their doors locked behind them by hall staff.
"It's not a perfect solution, and we will need to work on it more," she said.
Housing Policy
Under the new lock-out policy, students get:
- One chance to check out a key before they are fined.
- After the first time, a resident assistant must escort the student with the key to the room.
The student pays $15 after the first lock-out.
At Jayhoyker Towers, residents are required to pay $15 after their third lockout.
StEppin'out
Vincent Edwards, Wichita freshman, is a member of the KU stEp program. StEp is a mentoring group that meets at 6 p.m. Wednesdaydays at the Pioneer Room in the Burge Union. Edwards (left) and Julius Williams, program coordinator, discuss topics that range from religion to politics. The program also sets up times when the students can meet one-on-one with a peer mentor for guidance with studies and social topics. Photo by Eric B. Howell/KANSAN
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