Thursday, September 9, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 3
Elections commission under review
Task force wants to clarify vague spending rules
By Chris Barniger
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Although campaign season is almost a semester away, a Student Senate task force could begin investigating and modifying the elections commission next week.
Student Body President Korb Maxwell said he planned to appoint senators to the Election and Referendum Task Force at Senate's first full meeting next Wednesday. Dede Seibel, student body vice president, will be the chairwoman of the task force.
Maxwell said he wanted to prevent problems such as those that occurred in last spring's election
"Last year, I was consistently amazed by the decisions and actions of the elections commission," he said. "To me, what they're there to do is make sure the playing field is fair for everybody, not to decide the political system of the University of Kansas. But that's what they tried to do."
In its 1999 elections code, the commission initially prohibited candidates from identifying themselves by coalition on the ballot. After complaints from senators, the commission later revised the code to include coalition names on the ballot.
Maxwell said the commission should not have been able to take such an action.
"The commission needs Student Senate to tell them what exactly we want them to do." he said. "The coalition system makes for more
Jennifer Wamelink, commission member, said the commission did not need guidance from Senate.
professional campaigns. An assault on that makes no sense to me."
"I don't think that's a fair statement," she said. "We simply wanted to re-address the way campaigns spend money and give independent candidates a stronger voice."
Maxwell also said the code was too vague in its spending limit guidelines for campaigns and not strict enough about reviewing the veracity of proposed referenda.
"Referenda are a completely valuable tool, but there needs to be guidelines on how they work," he said. "Students need to know that what's on the ballot isn't a lie."
Seibel said improving the referendum process was an important responsibility for the task force.
"I think the things affecting students the most are referendum
issues" she said. "The methods of how they get on the ballot and what they say definitely affect student life."
Seibel also said she would seek to protect permanently the right to put coalition names on the ballot.
"The coalition system is so basic to how Student Senate operates, and it could just be revoked," she said. "I want to make sure that it stays fixed in place in the code."
The task force would seek to make the elections code clearer so that campaigns could run more smoothly, Seibel said.
"We need some uniform application of the rules, and the rules as they exist now are very vague," she said. "We want to make them less ambiguous. If anything, that would make the elections commission's job a lot easier."
The task force expects to have a report by the end of next month.
Edited by Chris Hutchison
Abortion activists protest outside clinic
By Dan Curry
By Dan Curry
features@kansan.com
features@kansan.com
associate features editor
Ten abortion opponents picketed in front of a downtown Lawrence clinic yesterday and prayed for the women entering the building.
Two statues of the Virgin Mary stood among their ranks, and rosary beads slipped through the picketers' fingers.
Next to the protesters, four members of the KU Pro-Choice Coalition silently staged a counter-demonstration.
A security guard stood in the doorway between them.
Sgt. George Wheeler said the protest went off without a hitch.
witnesses said four police cars appeared on the scene after an abortion opponent put her sign up against the clinic's glass window, but no citations were issued.
A representative of the clinic said it did not wish to comment on the protests because it had a policy prohibiting clinic members from making statements to the press.
The anti-abortion group, whose members said it was from a Catholic church in Topeka, has traveled to Lawrence each Wednesday for the past month to protest the operation of A. Kristin Neuhaus's clinic at 205 W. 8th St.
"We don't believe in violence," said Maria Becker, the representative for the group.
"We're here to protest in a prayerful way the killing of children. We truly believe that the abortion providers are just out for the money. They are like vultures, preying on women who are in trouble and who have no way out."
Becker said women should seek alternatives to abortion, such as adoption and care homes.
Yesterday was the first day the Pro-Choice Coalition attended the weekly protest.
"It's probably going to step up." Sally Puelo, coordinator of KU's Pro-Choice Coalition, said. She added that her coaltion would be back next week in greater numbers.
Puelo said her group was there to escort women seeking services from the clinic picketers.
"A lot of women are intimidated by these crowds," said Bridgett Chapin, Pro-Choice Coalition member.
Chapin said one woman entered the clinic during the protests that day.
"She just walked behind us," Chapin said. "She was fast. It was almost as if she wasn't there."
The two groups had little interaction throughout the protest, except when abortion opponents asked the abortion proponents to pray with them.
Anti-abortion protesters carry signs and statues of Mary at a rally in front of the A. Kristin Neuhaua Clinic located at 205 W. 8th St. The protesters also said that they will be protesting in front of the clinic next Wednesday at 9:15. Photo by Nick Krug/ KANSAN
Puelo said they declined the invitation because it didn't feel right.
"We love [the abortion proponents]," Becker said. "We feel that they are misled."
Edited by Kelly Clasen
"You don't hear much about guys that take their shot and miss; they end up humping jobs on graveyard shifts trying to figure out how they came up short."
Tuesday, September 14th at 6:30 pm in Room 109 Blake Hall.
Washington D.C. and Topeka Internship Programs
Find out how you can spend your spring semester working in the Nation's Capital or at the State Capitol in Topaka
inTopeka
http://www.ukans.edu/~dole98
For more information, contact Burdett Loomis,
785-864-9033 or b-loomis@ukans.edu
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864-9834 Ask for Amy
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