THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
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Tuesday
September 9,1997
Section:
A
Vol. 104 - No. 13
Sports today
WWW.KANSAN.COM
The Kansas-Missouri football Pivalry is earlier than usual this season, as the teams will play each other on Saturday.
SEE PAGE 10A
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
Students may have tool to sue
Legal Services may help students suing University
By Tim Harrington tharrington@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
University of Kansas students may be able to sue the University through its own legal services department if Scott Sullivan, student body president, gets his way.
Legal Services for Students is a law firm funded entirely by Student Senate and has existed since 1979 to provide free legal services for students, with one exception. This year, Legal Services will receive $219,000 from Student Senate, making it the largest beneficiary of Senate money.
The exception is that the firm may not advise or provide council to a student
filing a claim against the University or other University students.
Sullivan wants to strip the University of this immunity.
"It's very likely that a mistake could be made in the University and a student ends up getting the raw end of the deal," Sullivan said. "They should have a viable, legal
bullivan; Wants to trip University of legal immunity
opportunity to remedy that."
Jo Hardesty, director of Legal Services, said that there were students who inquired about legal concerns involving the University.
"We do get a lot of people coming in that want to talk about those kinds of issues," Hardesty said.
At this time, the department may only
refer them to legal council elsewhere
Don Strole, attorney and member of the Legal Services for Students Advisory Board, said that he saw no ethical problems with Sullivan's plan. An attorney can advise a client who happens to be suing that attorney's employer, Strole said.
"A public defender gets paid by the state," Strole said, "But that doesn't mean that he can't defend his client vigorously."
"I think that at this time there are ethical problems with the way Legal Services for Students is set up," Hardesty said. "I think it would be real difficult because it is on campus. There is a tenuous connection there."
Hardesty disagrees.
Kansas State University will not be one of those models. K-State's legal
Sullivan said that he is working with Hardesty to come up with a plan of action based on models from other universities' student legal services.
services for students are similar to the University's.
Dianne K. Urban, K-State's sole legal adviser for students, said that her role in actions against the university was limited, but it still was greater than what's available at the University of Kansas.
"I do strictly in-office help." Urban said. "I can do in-office counseling and advising, and I can help in the drafting of documents, but technically I'm an employee of the university."
Hardesty said the obstacles to Sullivan's proposal would arise in the process involved in changing University policy.
After being passed by an advisory board, any proposal then needs to pass Student Senate by a two-thirds majority. Next, it would go to the chancellor's office where similar proposals have died.
Hardesty said a prior proposal to allow Legal Services to advise on issues regarding the University never made it past the chancellor's office.
New biology class attracts a new breed of web browsers
Students study spider science
By Mike Porryman
Kansan staff writer
A new creepy-crawly spider class is being offered this semester for biology and nonbiology majors.
Biology 509, Biology of Spiders, which meets three times per week, allows students to learn about the biology and identification of local and foreign spiders while observing live specimens, said Deborah Smith, associate professor of entomology, the course's instructor.
Smith, who keeps several venomous spiders in her office in Haworth Hall, said she was not surprised by the level of interest class members had shown so far.
"Most of the students seem to be fascinated by spiders," she said. "Some may fear the spiders, but they still want to learn about them."
The course's topics include the biology, anatomy, evolution, behavior and identification of spiders. Although nondomestic spiders are discussed in lecture, most of the course will involve spiders that can be found around Kansas, Smith said.
Deborah Smith, professor of biological sciences, shows off a species of spider to her Biology 509 class. The students use live spider specimens during their class studies. Photo by Pam Dishman/KANSAN
Each student will have to find a pet spider for the class. They will be responsible for feeding their spiders and taking notes on them throughout the semester, Smith said.
"If a student stumbles upon a spider, he or she can identify it and not only reduce his or her own fear, but also educate someone else and reduce their fear," she said.
"Students will learn a lot by studying one specific spider," she said. "During the class, they will learn to pick out the features and behaviors of spiders."
The class, which is open to nonbiology majors, is at
Last year, Smith held a seminar on spiders and decided that if the class were offered, it would attract a good number of students, she said.
"It takes some time for a class to gain a reputation," he said. "Some nonmajor courses stick around for a while and others stay only a short while. This course will probably be around as long as Deborah wants to teach it."
capacity with 22 students enrolled. However, the department of biology cannot afford to offer many nonmajor courses like Biology 509 because of enrollment increases and faculty size, said Dean Stetler, director of undergraduate biology.
"We will encourage certain nonmajor courses if there is an expressed interest by students and faculty or if there is a need to fill a gap," he said. "But we also need to have teachers to conduct the classes."
"The seminar turned out good and it demonstrated the interest people had in spiders," Smith said.
Stetler said he was not certain how long the spider class would be around.
Cheny Dixon, Derby junior, spins the wheel to win at The Price is Right booth. The CBs boots were attracting students Monday afternoon on the lawn of Allen Field House. Photo by Roer Namer/KANSAN
The price is right on campus for CBS promotional tour
By Corrie Moore
Five white canvas tents crowded the Allen Field House lawn yesterday as CBS made the University of Kansas one of 40 stops on its national college tour.
Kansan staff writer
Kielyn Scott, Student Union Activities special events coordinator and Wichita junior, said she thought that yesterday's turnout was pretty good.
Students browsed, picked up free CBS paraphernalia, played games and won prizes.
"I think there will be
The event continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the field house.
CBS has scheduled 40 college campus visits nationwide this year to promote the network's daytime, prime-time and sports programming. Tour sponsors include Nestlé, Pizza Hut, Mountain Dew and L'Oréal, all of which donated prizes and product samples.
because more people will know about it," Scott said. "There is a lot to do—plus there's all kinds of free stuff."
more people here on Tuesday
CBS contacted the SUA last spring and asked if the University wanted to participate in the network's annual tour. Once its schedule was determined, CBS confirmed the dates and specified how many people were needed to work.
Events under the tents include "Studio CBS"
where students can perform scenes from their favorite CBS soap operas and are given a free videotape of the scene.
The "Top 10 Challenge" booth gives students the opportunity to attempt to correctly guess the topic of a list featured on "The Late Show with David Letterman." A videotape of Letterman reveals the correct answers.
There is a "Basketball Shootout" and a
booth where students can play the role of the star player in a historic moment from an actual college football game.
"The Price is Right" booth seemed to draw the largest crowd.
Dorraine Murtha, Derby freshman, lost the chance to win a camera when she spun the wheel, and it landed on the wrong color.
"The Price is Right" is my favorite game show, and I think it was fun," she said.
Keith Ammons, manager of Contemporary Marketing, Inc., the company CBS hired to promote and run the tour, said he thought the event would be a success because of all the cars that drive by the field house.
Overland Park sophomore Lisa Logan, participated in some events between classes.
"We're kind of in the path between campus and residence halls." he said.
"I have a class at Robinson, and I saw all the tents, and I wanted to see what was going on," she said.
1. Digitized photo
2. Card number for use in ATMs
3. KUID number
4. Bar code for athletic tickets, campus purchases
5. Student/faculty/staff designation
6. Magnetic stripe can be read by vending machines and ATMs
Andrew Rohrback / KANSAN
Kansan staff writer
By Matthew Friedrichs
University chips in for electronic ease with new smartcards KUID replacements will offer benefits to campus consumers
Students won't be eating "smartchips" to improve their grades next semester. They'll use their new KUIDs equipped with the high-tech chips to buy copies and concessions.
The University of Kansas administrators could decide on one or more vendors to provide a new student identification card, which includes the "smartchip," during the next two weeks, according to KU officials. A contract has not yet been signed, but officials hope to implement the plan by Spring 1998. The card eventually would replace the current KUID.
Although the card will be primarily an ID for students, faculty and staff, Diane Goddard, director of purchasing and assistant to the associate provost, said she hoped the new cards would eliminate the need to carry separate ID cards, automated teller machine cards and copy cards.
"We really think that it's going to add a lot of service: better and more services for students" Goddard said.
Associate Provost Lindy Eakin said the smartship would maintain an electronic monetary balance. Students, faculty and staff could transfer up to $100 to the chip by inserting the cards and cash into transfer machines located across campus. Current ATMs do not provide this service. Eakin said transfer machines would have to be installed on campus.
He said students, faculty and staff could spend money by inserting the card into copy machines at the library or vending machines equipped with card readers. The machine would subtract the cost of the purchase from the chip.
The cards could also be used as an ATM and debit card if students choose to open checking accounts with the participating bank. Eakin said.
"Coke has committed to put readers in all their machines." Eakin said.
Students, faculty and staff who do not open a checking account with the exclusive bank can still make on-campus purchases with cash, checks and credit cards, he said. They can also continue to use their bank's ATM cards.
One drawback to the smartcard is that funds on a lost card could be spent by anyone who finds it.
The new KUIDs will continue to provide entrance to residence halls, serve as library cards and meal cards for students eating at housing cafeterias.
The University eventually hopes to add other services. The cards someday may serve as bus passes and electronic all-sports tickets. Eakin said.
Eakin has completed interviews for an on-campus coordinator, and will hire a person to fill that role once a contract is signed.
No contracts have been signed, and no companies have been eliminated from the selection process, but Goddard said at the present time the University might be talking seriously with one or more of the vendors.
"I'm hoping that we can begin to implement during the spring semester and then do some mass carding during enrollment." Goddard said.
The University will join several other Board of Regents institutions that already offer versions of electronic university identification cards.
Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University and Wichita State University use electronic student identification cards, and Kansas State University changed to identification cards with smartchips this fall.
Despite confusion about the various accounts available, and a recall on 4,000-5,000 cards that were improperly laminated, the transition has been relatively smooth, said Jack Thoman, assistant director of business affairs for the Kansas State student union.
4.
"Students have been pretty quick to embrace the use of the cards," said Travis Lenkner, a Kansas State freshman. "They are very convenient."
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