Football: The Kansas quarterback position is once again up for grabs. Page 7 Music: Geggy Tah brought its special sound to the Hill yesterday. Page 6
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
VOL. 103, NO.43
TUESDAY. OCTOBER 22. 1996
ADVERTISING 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
Legionnaires' illness spreads in Detroit
DETROIT — An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease has killed two people and left at least 1.5 host pitalized, and about the only thing investigators know is that the victims lived, worked or passed through a six-square-mile area of suburban Detroit.
The victims are mostly elderly and had been in a small area,'n Farmington and Farmington Hills, Mich., northwest communities of Detroit, in late September.
The disease is not contagious. Instead, it is spread mainly by inhaling airborne water droplets that contain the bacteria. It can be treated with antibiotics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating, but pinpointing the source of the bacteria could take months, said William Hall, chief of communicable disease epidemiology at the state Community Health Department.
Legionnaires' disease can cause high fevers and severe respiratory alliments, including pneumonia. An estimated 10,000 people in the United States develop the disease each year, and 5-15 percent of known cases prove fatal, the CDC said.
Palestinians walk out of Israeli peace talks
JERUSALEM — Palestinian negotiators walked out of talks in Jerusalem last night, deepening a sense of crisis in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The walkout came hours after U.S. mediator Dennis Ross announced that he was returning to Washington, Israelis and Palestinians blamed each other for an impasse after two weeks of talks.
Ross said there had been progress—just not enough, Israel, on the other hand, claimed that only details remained unresolved and accused Palestinians of stalling. The Palestinians said both were overestimating the progress.
The talks continued despite Poss' departure. But Palestinian negotiators walked out of talks about security for the West Bank town of Hebron after Israeli troops pull out, said Moshe Fogel, a representative for Israel's government.
A Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity that chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, reported to Yasser Arafat on the new disagreements.
The Palestinians walked out after Israelis refused to renegotiate aspects of the agreement that had been worked out in recent negotiations. Fogel said.
—The Associated Press
TODAY
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Police chase ends on campus
Two suspects in robberies apprehended
By Bradley Brooks Kansan staff writer
KU students may have thought they were in an episode of Starsky and Hutch when Lawrence police officers chased and apprehended two armed-robbery suspects yesterday afternoon on the east side of campus.
"An ongoing pursuit followed immediately after that," Harmon said.
Lawrence Police Lt. Kevin Harmon said that at 2:25 p.m. yesterday, two men robbed the Payless Shoe Store. 1300 W. 23rd St.
The suspects then turned their Chevy Blazer around and returned to Lawrence.
The suspects then fled the scene, driving east on Kansas Highway10, when they were spotted by a Douglas County Sheriff's deputy.
"They snaked all over the southeast part of the city, and eventually went up 14th Street toward campus." Harmonsaid.
The suspects got out of their vehicle when they encountered the barricade at the corner of 14th Street and Javahawk Boulevard.
"They jumped out of their truck, ran off and just let it roll down the hill." Miller said.
The suspects then ran through the parking lot east of Danforth Chapel, and led Lawrence police officers on a foot chase.
The vehicle crashed into the stone wall on the south side of Spooner Hall.
Anne Mattingly, Wichita senior, said that she was standing across the street from Watson Library and saw the chase.
"I heard the sirens, looked up, and saw them running across the Watson lawn," Mattingly said. "I then saw the cops screech to a halt in front of the library and start to run after them."
Mattingly said that she saw one suspect run around the east side of Watson Library, and that she thought the other suspect entered the library through a side door.
Gayle Reece of the KU police department said that was not the
"To my knowledge, no suspect entered the library," Reece said. "They ran around it a lot, but they never entered it."
case.
Mattingly said that three officers were chasing the men when she saw them.
"I saw a cop pull out his gun and yell at one of them to stop," she said. "He kept running, and three officers ran after him. Almost immediately, they came out with him in handcuffs."
Mahasweta Banerjee, associate professor of social welfare, said that she was teaching a class in Blake Hall when the chase began.
"There was some shouting and running around," Mahasweta said. "My students said that something was going on, and we looked out the window. And somebody shouted 'he has a gun.'"
The suspects were both apprehended in the vicinity of Watson Library and the power plant.
"I saw them catch one of them behind Watson Library," Mahasweta said.
Reece said that the suspects were not armed when they were apprehended, but that a gun related to the robbery was found off of campus.
"We were there to help," Reece said. "The Lawrence Police Department did almost everything."
Officers searched the area around Watson and the power plant minutes after the chase ended for an additional weapon or other evidence.
department was investigating whether this robbery was related to a string of robberies in the Kansas City and Lawrence area.
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
Harmon said that the police
"There has been a robbery team that these two could be similar to," Harmon said.
Looking up at a whole new world
George McCleary, Associate professor of cartography shows sixth-grade students a print of a map. The students from Quail Run Elementary School got to see how maps were designed and printed in a darkroom lab. The program is just one of KU's programs for helping young students become more educated about geography.
Steve Puppe / KANSAN
Fraternity denies hazing allegations
Zeta Beta Tau says charges are false
By Ashlee Roll Kansan staff writer
The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity has denied all hazing allegations that were made public last week.
The violations against the fraternity reported by the national chapter include hazing, incorrect behavior during sorority rush, violations of the fraternity's brotherhood program, failure to process new initiates and alleged academic ineligibility of the chapter president.
Bobby Schwartz, Chicago junior and president of the fraternity, said all allegations against the fraternity were false and that the fraternity would help in the investigation.
"We're waiting for the national chapter to let us know what we can do to help," Schwartz said.
Since the allegations, Schwartz and other officers from the fraternity have stepped down temporarily while the investigation continues.
Schwartz said the national chapter has not informed the fraternity of its current standing.
Jim Greer, executive vice president for the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, said that the KU chapter was still suspended. According to a news release from the national chapter, the hazing allegations have not been resolved.
In addition to the several charges directed toward the fraternity as a whole, the national chapter claimed that Schwartz' Spring 1996 semester grades were too low for him to participate in the fraternity.
"At no time since I have been president have
I been academically ineligible," Schwartz said.
Fraternities at the University of Kansas, including Zeta Beta Tau, have trustees that set academic requirements for the local level.
"You have to have a 2.25 to stay in the fraternity." Schwartz said.
Bobby Schwartz
Schwartz also said that the grade point average requirements were not cumulative, but were reviewed each semester. If a fraternity member failed to meet the criterion in one semester, he would be placed on probation and forced to attend study groups.
If a member did not meet
the academic requirements after a semester on probation, he would not be allowed to stay in the fraternity.
"Academic requirements are a chapter issue," said Bill Nelson, assistant director of the organizations and activities center. "They are not an IFC nor a University issue."
According to the news release, Schwartz was notified that in the Spring 1996 semester, his grades had fallen below the minimum required by his chapter.
Schwartz responded to the chapter that a grade had been changed, which made him academically eligible. Although the national chapter acknowledges that Schwartz is academically eligible, they have asked Schwartz to confirm his current GPA. To date, they have not received the verification, officials said.
Schwartz said that he had been on academic probation once during his freshman year, but that after a semester on probation, his grades were well above the requirement.
Easy A's compensate a disregarded class
By Ashleigh Roberts Kansan staff writer
Very rarely do students receive A's and request refunds because they didn't learn anything. But that's what Jenifer Purcell, Lawrence sophomore, said she did after taking an English 210 class last semester.
She said that her teacher in the poetry class left for personal reasons, and that Ken Shedd, English lecturer, replaced him.
Purcell said Shedid was unorganized, didn't keep up with weekly assignments, and missed class on a regular basis.
She also said she did not complete one of the papers and still received an A.
"At the end of the semester, he told the class that the English department was making him give everyone A's because of all of the problems," Purcell said.
Kevin Tuttle, Leawood junior, said they were given only a couple of assignments.
"There wasn't much to grade off of," he said. "He went on attendance and participation. The class met twice a week, and quite often he'd miss once a week."
Amy Devitt, director of the freshman/sophomore English department, said the allegations were false.
"It's certainly not true that the English department gave the students A's to appease them. That is not an accurate depiction of what happened," Devitt said.
44
But what exactly happened is confidential, she said.
"All I can say is, in my opinion, it involves gross irresponsibilities
Richard Harding, associate director of the department of English, said that not all of the students received A's, but that he could not discuss student grades because they were confidential.
1.
Shedd said he never promised all students A's.
because there were mitigating circumstances," he said.
Shedd said that he had an amended outline the first day of class with detailed objectives and his stand on attendance and participation. He
"I would have never said that, because it simply wasn't true," he said. "I turned in the grades based on the papers, exams, participation and attendance."
Purcell said it took Shedd several weeks to come up with a syllabus, and that he didn't return the class' first papers until after stop day.
said there were some problems with the selected textbooks, but that the class included a mid-term, a final and five panels.
"The class was an exception to what I normally hope for, but under the circumstances, the class went the best that it could go," he said. "My other 210 classes have been much more unified, and there was a closer familiarity with the students."
Ward Cook, Mission Hills senior, said Shedd was a good teacher who was thrown into a bad situation.
"He tried to make the situation as smooth as possible," Ward said.