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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
TUESDAY. OCTOBER 1. 1996
SECTION A VOL. 103. NO. 28
ADVERTISING 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
MS vaccine helps build immunity of victims
NEW YORK — An experimental vaccine enabled multiple sclerosis patients to build up a police squad of blood cells to stop vandalism in their nervous systems, and that kept sufferers from getting sicker, a study found.
Scientists tested the vaccine against a kind of MS that gets progressively worse through months or years. None of the six patients who built up cells in the blood got worse during the yearlong study, while 10 of 17 other patients did.
The study had so few patients that it couldn't prove the vaccine would be useful. But experts said the vaccine's effect on the immune system was encouraging.
"It's not a universal treatment at this point and should not be considered so until we have evidence in a lot more patients," said the study's author, Arthur Vandenbark, of the Veterans Medical Center in Portland, Ore., and the Oregon Health Sciences University.
About 300,000 Americans have MS. They have such symptoms as unusual tiredness, loss of balance and muscle coordination, slurred speech, tremors and difficulty walking. In severe cases, they are partly or completely paralyzed.
ATLANTA — ValuJet Airlines, grounded for 15 weeks following the deadly crash in the Everglades, returned to the sky yesterday with a plane full of passengers who cheered when the jet taxied, when it took off and when it landed.
The flight from Atlanta to Washington included a giddy group of flight attendants with buttons that read "Mission Possible" and the airline's president, Lewis Jordan. Passengers enjoyed special $19 one-way fares.
Valujet's first flight a soaring success
The Attanta-based carrier was grounded in June because of Federal Aviation Administration doubts about its maintenance programs.
"I've never heard so many people applauding on an airline," said Gary Cecchine, who tried to work on his doctoral dissertation in mid-flight.
Boy Scouts stone bear; death ruled accidental
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Boy Scouts who threw rocks at a black bear to scare it away will not be prosecuted for the animal's death because autopsy results were inconclusive.
Park rangers said the 100-pound yearling bear was killed by the rocks, some the size of softballs.
The autopsy, however, did not prove that the death was anything but an accident, Ranger Scott Gedi man said yesterday.
Scout leaders of the troop from Huntington Beach told rangers that they were trying to scare the bear away from their food. Park visitors are advised to make noise and throw small stones or sticks at bears from at least 30 feet away.
The Associated Press
"We did what the brochure told us. We started throwing things and making a lot of noise," Scout leader Ron Roach said. "One of the stones made a thud. It was a pretty sickening sound, and I said, 'Oh no, I think I hit one.'"
Because of the death, park offi- officers will rewrite advisories to specifi- that stones no larger than golf balls should be thrown.
"We are very disturbed that this incident occurred," Chief Ranger Bob Andrew said. "The goal of the park's human-bear management program is to protect black bears, allowing them to live in as natural a condition as possible."
Payroll presents problems
New software isn't universal
By Eric Weslander
Kansan staff writer
While some departments struggle to understand the University's new payroll software, others are struggling just to get the chance to use it.
Eighty-one departments in the University do not have access to PeopleSoft, the controversial new payroll and human resources system. Instead of entering payroll information to the PeopleSoft network, the departments
fill out forms and send them through University mail.
As the University gradually adjusts to PeopleSoft, the departments that aren't online face the possibility of being left behind.
"They're stuck in an information void," said Lindy Eakin, associate provost for support services.
Some departments are not yet online because their computers don't have a pentium processor and 12 megabytes of memory, which is required for using PeopleSoft, Eakin said.
"You could be networked and have just a plain Macintosh, and you would not be able to get into the system," he said.
Other departments, including the Applied English Center, 204 Lippincott Hall, can not use the system because their offices have yet
to be wired. Cyndi Hurst, bookkeeper for the center, said her office had been scheduled to be wired last March.
The wiring was delayed because Lippincott is a historical building, Eakin said. He said Lippincott was one of the last buildings to be wired and that all departments eventually would be wired to the network.
Hurst said the hardest part about using paper to submit the payroll was keeping track of information she couldn't access. For example, if there is an error on a paycheck, she can't find the source of the problem on a computer database, as online departments staff can.
Some departments that are wired for the system and have the computing capabilities still do not use the system. Eakin said he did not know the reasons for the remaining departments' failure to hook up to the network.
Hurst also said it was difficult to communicate with the pavilion office.
"When they send us payroll information, it's all geared to what's online," she said. "That's
Hurst said that although she looked forward to being hooked up to the network, she had heard about complications within the system.
"We're calling to find out why they're not online and what it would take to get there," Eakin said.
Online users have complained of poor training with the system, complex data entry processes, and lack of communication about the system's many changes and features.
"I guess I'll find out," Hurst said.
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
Fewer foreign students
National trend not reflected locally
The continuing downward trend in the number of international students enrolling at the University of Kansas has Gerald Harris, director of International Student Services worried.
By Nicholas C. Charalambous
Kansan staff writer
This fall, 1,607 international students are enrolled at the University, compared with 1,732 in fall 1995. The number of international students enrolled each fall has been dropping off by 100 students or
more since 1993.
Harris said the figures could be explained simply: the University has never recruited international students.
The number of international students had been steadily increasing across the nation from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, he said. However, for the last 10 years, the numbers have been leveling off.
"Other schools have been aggressively recruiting international educational talent and we haven't gone into that market," Harris said.
"We need to get information about our institution out to enough places
But not at the University of Kansas.
Daphne Johnson, associate director of international student services, said she did not know whether the total international enrollment reflected a decrease in new students or an increase in those who have graduated or begun practical training. The number of new international students is based only on students who have registered with International Student Services.
and enough people," Harris said.
"Right now, it isn't good enough."
However, Harris said the decline in new international student enrollment was genuine, and that most of it was at the undergraduate level.
"It's very significant, especially
See STUDENTS,Page 2A
Minority freshman enrollment sinks at the University
African-American numbers increase
By Nicholas C. Charalambous
Kansan staff writer
The number of African-American first-time freshmen at the University of Kansas has increased for the third straight year.
But figures for other minority first-time freshman show a modest decline, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning.
first-time freshmen are students who have never attended a college before, summer school and advanced placement courses excluded.
Minority freshman enrollment increased by 1.2 percent from Fall 1995, mostly a result of an 11.2 percent increase in African-American freshmen. Overall, the enrollment of first-time freshmen at the University climbed 2.5 percent.
"I would like to see increases in all ethnic minority categories, but I'm happy with what we've got," said Kathleen McClusky-Fawcett, associate provost for academic services.
Kathryn Tuttle, acting director of admissions, said that additional recruitment efforts in Wyandotte County may be responsible for the increase of African-American freshmen. Those programs encouraged parents of high school graduates to convince their children, who had already applied at the University, to enroll.
Tuttle said there were plans to expand these programs to areas with high minority populations.
The Office of Admissions also
Diversity at KU
Minorties today make up 9.6 percent of the freshman class at the University of Kansas.
MINORITY ENROLLMENT BY RACE PERCENT OF TOTAL FRESHMEN
KEY Asian African American Hispanic Native American 3.4% 3.5% 3.1% 3.3% 2.4% 2.3% 0.6% 0.5% 1993 1994 1995 1996
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
will try to cooperate with organizations such as the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, the Black Student Union and the Asian American Student Union.
The number of African-American freshmen enrolled this fall, 129, is the highest since 1987. In 1980, 178 African-American students were enrolled as first-time freshmen.
Sherwood Thompson, director of Minority Affairs, said the decreasing trend reflected a fierce competition between schools for a scarce number of African-American students who were college bound.
Enrollment for Native-American first-time freshman decreased from 21 in 1995 to 18 in 1996; Asian-American first-time freshman enrollment decreased from 121 to 120, and Hispanic-American freshman enrollment decreased from 88 to 83.
Blue phones a sure sign of safety
Emergency phones are placed in locations across campus for students that need urgent help. These phones are easily located by big, blue lights on the tops of the poles. If you punch the button on this yellow box, help will be on the way.
University administration may add emergency phones
By Lindsey Henry Kansan staff writer
Responding to claims that the University of Kansas is not as safety-conscious as it should be, administrators and Student Senators are attempting to increase the number of blue emergency phones on campus.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the administration was in the process of allocating about $10,000 to go into the University budget for the annual addition of blue emergency phones.
"This is something the administration is definitely in favor of." Ambler said.
The question facing the administration is just how the new phones would be financed.
"Right now, funds for the phones are scattered all over the University budget," Ambler said. "In the past, year-end expenditure excess money was used to add additional phones."
Ambler said the administration wanted to reorga-
See PHONES, Page 2A
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