Tuesday, September 28, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
State budget cut reduces funding to the University
By Clay McCuistion writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The effects of the 1 percent budget cut proposed by Gov. Bill Graves last week continue to reverberate around the state and the University of Kansas campus.
At the University, $2 million must be sliced from this year's spending, requiring a partial hiring freeze. Overall, $44.3 million will be cut from state agencies.
Mike Matson, Graves' press secretary, said the problem was simple: not enough money.
"It is the governor's response to an ongoing shortfall of revenues," he said. "By providing this direction now, he is giving managers much more flexibility in charting their own budget course over the next year-and-a-half."
Matson said several years of tax cuts and spending increases had left state government with less tax money than projected.
money that projects. "It's a result of the legislature and governor agreeing on policies that led to significant tax relief," he said. "This is the governor's method of prudent financial management."
Burdett Loomis, professor of political science, said Graves' spending cuts had to do with position for the upcoming legislative session.
"it takes any idea of tax cuts off the table," he said.
"This could ratchet it up a little bit more, particularly if revenues keep dropping," he said. "It becomes more and more a political issue."
Loomis said that while lowering spending was prudent, it was not necessarily beneficial.
"Long-term, these things are not very good for institutions," he said. "It causes some disruptions."
Lindy Eakin, associate provost for
support services, said more disruptions might be in store. The 2001 fiscal year holds the possibility of a 6 percent budget cut for the University.
"Some form of budget reduction is certainly a much greater prospect than it would have been last spring." Eakin said.
The University has proposed three tentative budgets: one which continues current services at current funding levels, another that increases funding and a third that slashes spending by 6 percent.
"The real indication will be when the governor proposes his budget in January," he said. "That's the real signal of what the governor thinks the situation will be in the next fiscal year."
Eakin emphasized that the situation was still flexible.
car year.
Barbara Ballard, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs and four-term member of the House of Representatives, voted for this year's state budget. She said the cut was necessary.
"I don't know if it really could have been avoided," Ballard said. "If you can't give an increase when the economy is good, when can you give it?"
Ballard said she suspected that the legislature would have to cut spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
we have to be careful what we're cutting," she said. "That in itself causes a lot of anxiety."
Barbara Conant, communications director for the Board of Regents, said the board had to cut $6.5 million overall.
"It causes us to cinch our belt a little bit more," Conant said.
Power loss sends students from libraries
Edited by Ronnie Wachter
It was a dark and stormy night. And that was the best explanation why seven libraries on campus had computer problems yesterday.
By Jim O'Malley Special to the Kansan
Sunday night's storm most likely
caused the par power outage Monday morning at Anschutz Science Library that left parts of the building without power for an hour and a half, said Jason Busset, systems specialist of the library
automation left hand
servers partially disabled.
automation department.
at Anschutz began working on the problem as soon as it was discovered Monday morning.
Busset was helping reference librarians manage the resulting problems at Watson Library Monday morning. Because public work stations in the Watson reference department were connected to the affected server, users were having problems accessing library databases.
"There was no simple pattern to the access problem." Busset said. "There was no simple way to tell people what they could and could not access. It was almost random
Other automation staff members
it was almost random from a user's point of view."
ers weren't printing.
"We had someone go out and tape
signs on all the machines advising that the printers weren't working," he said.
Bullington said he advised users to try printing their material at the Computer Center.
Half of the work stations were shut down around 10 a.m. to enable the reference staff to help patrons with the database access problems, Bullington said. The random nature of the access problems caused users
Jeff Bullington
"We're not Microsoft with all its resources and money. We hope people will be patient with us."
Watson reference librarian
to ask reference librarians many more questions than usual, he said.
Although the reference stuff wanted to help people, there weren't enough people to handle the extra questions.
questions.
"Unfortunately, in a networked environment, this sort of thing happens," be said. "We're not Microsoft with all its resources and money.
We hope people will be patient with us."
Stephen Wilde, Overland Park graduate student, said although he had problems printing, he had no trouble gaining access to databases.
"I was working on an assignment for LAAS 700, a research course," he said. "I just couldn't print any records off. I rebooted, switched machines, even pulled up the the
printer file."
Wilde took Bullington's advice and went to the Computer Center, where he was able to print his material.
Channette Kirby, library assistant in Watson's reference department, said that the library was packed when half of the work stations were shut down.
"We had people at almost every machine," she said.
Kirby said that despite occasional computer glitches, she didn't miss the alternative card catalog.
"We always had our own flascos with the card catalog and the access was much more limited compared to now," she said. "You could only have one user at a drawer at a time," she said.
The database access problems were fixed and the work stations turned back on by noon, Busset said. Only one of the two laser printers, however, was working by late yesterday evening in the Watson reference department.
Kirby said she had been joking with patrons that the library was in training for the year 2000.
Business students to have global interaction
Edited by Matt James
KU, Russian classes exchange e-mails, stereotypical views
By Stacey Taylor Special to the Kansan
Russian business students think Americans are crazy about money and have a superiority complex.
American business students think that Russians wear funny furry hats and like to drink vodka. American students think
Both agree that Americans are not good at geography and different languages, and that Russians are poor and have a failing government.
These were the responses when Hans Hansen, graduate teaching assistant in the University of Kansas School of Business, and Anna Nabrukhima, who teaches at the University of Economics
and Finance in St. Petersburg, Russia, recently asked their students to make a list of their thoughts about Americans and Russians.
Russians. Each group was unaware that its lists would be e-mailed to the other group. This allowed students to compose less inhibited lists.
The lesson to be learned: stereotypes work both ways.
Hansen said the University and its faculty were still too ethnocentric in their educational approach.
The student groups have yet to read the list written by their international counterparts. Hansen said he thought that when they were able to read the lists, the students would realize how much each country depended on the other, and that their stereotypes would change after reading the other groups' lists.
"We have a responsibility to
either educate students about the broader world, or to refund their tuition." Hansen said.
Hansen said the e-mail exchange would be a good opportunity for students to learn about another culture.
He said 90 percent of his students' worlds consist of Lawrence, and their worldviews might stretch as far as St. Louis during the summer.
"I'd like to broaden their horizons, increase their cultural awareness," Hansen said.
When attempting to complete the exercise, Chris Chambers, Overland Park senior, said he and his group thought the Russians were very similar to Americans. He said he didn't think he held a stereotype, and he now saw Russians a lot differently than the way he saw them during the Cold War.
Hansen said he did not seek out
opportunities to increase his cultural awareness as an undergraduate, so he now encouraged his students to take time to consider all educational possibilities.
"KU does a good job of providing these opportunities," he said. "I encourage students to seek those."
encourage students to seek those." Darcie Eddy, Salina junior, said opportunities like these and study abroad programs could be an important part of a business education.
"It opens up your interest and impressions of the way other countries run business in general," she said.
Hansen said that he hoped, at the very least, that both sets of students would learn something about themselves and each other.
"It is a very unique opportunity and I think the Russians and Americans will benefit volumes," he said.
Edited by Chris Hopkins
Sugar Town pales next to Sundance Festival competition, but doesn't bomb
Lesser actors shine, but generic dialogue no Blair Witch Project
By Stephanie Sapienza
Kansan movie critic
When I went to go see a screening of the new Allison Anders/Kurt Voss company Sugar Town last week. I was pretty excited. It was a centerpiece film in the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, which puts out some of the most ingenious and creative independent films ever made.
never have to eat ramen again.
Don't get me wrong, the film was very good. But if I had a dollar for every ensemble-comedy about-depraved-souls-searching-for-love-and-stardom-in-LA, I'd
This year alone, Sugar Town was among the ranks of The Blair Witch Project, Cookie's Fortune, Go, and Run Lola Run. Maybe it was just that Sugar Town pailed in comparison to these, but I didn't see too much in this comedy that made it Sundance-worthy.
The story weaves in and out of the lives of 11 (yes, 11) people in various stages of stardom. Gwen (Jade Gordon) is a subtly manipulative aspiring singer in her early twenties. She is recommended as a housekeeper/companion by Eva (Rosanna Arquette), a b-movie actress, to Liz (Ally Sheedy.)
Eva is married to Cliff (John Taylor of Duran Duran fame), one of four members of a band of hasbeen musicians trying to get a record deal through Burt, their producer (also a has-been).
Commentary
Burt's only lead is a snooty and condescending rich widow (Beverly D'Angelo), will give the band a start if one of the band members (a David Bowie/Sting cross) will sleep with her. The problem is, he only sleeps with teenage girls.
The cast of non-stars is one of the movie's assets. Personally, I prefer watching movies when I can watch an actor without thinking about the fact that he was on the cover of The Globe for soliciting sex from an undercover
midget dominatrix.
midget comma mark:
Actresses like D'Angelo,
Arquette, and Sheedy are not on the A-list but are just fresh enough from smaller movies and roles to give the film some credibility.
Sheedy, following up her success in the indie High Art, is wonderful as a pasty-faced, healthfood eating, make-up free production designer who is perpetually dateless. The younger and sexier Gwen is wonderful at making Liz feel better about herself, while stealing her potential boyfriends and her jewelry.
Cliff and Eva inherit a boy — an eyeliner-wearing Marilyn Manson byproduct, no less — who one of Cliff's old groupies claims is his son. These sequences are really well-done, with the boy, Nirvan, giving Cliff pointers on his band (the demo title, "Gravy-Stained Girl," has got to go), and Eva and Nirvan bonding happily.
Ally Sheedy and Rosanna Arquette star in the Allison Anders and Kurt Voss film Sugar Town. The film was a centerpiece in the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Contributed art.
The stories all come to a happy wrap-up ending, which leaves the
audiences wondering if this is an indie film or a Hollywood film. Overall, I left the theater pleasantly entertained. Maybe that's not so bad — it's like sipping soda when you think it's lemonade
it's just not what I expected from a Sundance film.
Edited by Jennifer Roush
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