TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1995
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS 864-4810
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.102,NO.32
(USPS 650-640)
TODAY KANSAN
SPORTS
Conference season begins
No.24 Kansas will face a surprising Colorado team on Saturday. Page 1B
CAMPUS
Science meets religion
A new class at KU will blend creation stories and physics. Page 3A
Quake's death toll rises
NATION
At least 68 people died and thousands of buildings were destroyed after Sunday's earthquake in Turkey. Page 5A
Rabin criticizes American Jews
WORLD
Israel's prime minister denounced the efforts of American Jews to lobby against the PLO peace agreement. Page 5A
WEATHER
MOSTLY SUNNY
Weather: Page 2A
INDEX
Opinion . 4A
World News. 5A
Features . 6A
Scoreboard. 2B
Horoscopes. 4B
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is free. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
KU fraternities could ban alcohol
Andy Rullestad / KANSAN
Mary Peterson, associate director of campus and student activities at the University of Iowa, speaks to greek members about managing stress, relationships and the dangers of alcohol.Peterson spoke at the Lied Center last night.
By Phillip Brownlee Kansan staff writer
Alcohol will be banned at KU fraternities within the next five years, a fraternity officer said.
Dan Mudd, Interfraternity Council president, said banning alcohol at greek functions was a national trend that he expected to be implemented at KU fraternities before the end of the century.
"There's no doubt in my mind it will happen," Mudd said. "The only way to survive is to go alcohol-free."
KU sororities already ban alcohol on the premises of sorority houses.
Nationally, about a dozen fraternities are looking at requiring local chapters to ban alcohol, and several schools already have university-wide policies against alcohol at parties, said Jonathan Brant, executive vice president of the National Interfraternity Conference in Indianapolis.
The University of Iowa, the University of Colorado and Utah State University are recent examples.
The University of Iowa enacted its policy Wednesday, following the Sept. 8 death of a fraternity member from a drinking incident.
"You'll never know what it is like to see a body bag taken out of a chapter house with 40 men sobbing like babies," said Mary Peterson, associate director of campus and student activities at Iowa, in a speech last night to about 800 KU Greek members at the Lied Center.
The greek houses at Utah State weren't given a choice about their new policy, said Brad Bishop, Utah State Greek adviser. The university's board of trustees decided, effective last week, that all fraternities and sororites must be alcohol-free or face suspension.
Brian Hensely, Sigma Nu president, said his national fraternity already was recruiting local chapters to take the lead in becoming alcohol-free.
Two weeks ago, the 26 fraternities and sororites at the University of Colorado also voted to ban alcohol at all house functions after a series of alcohol-related incidents last year prompted a police crackdown.
Mudd said that several KU chapters had been the target of national fraternities to spearhead an alcohol-free effort. As a result, Matt Leonard, Delta Tau Delta president, has been appointed as a KU representative to a national committee looking into the initiative, Mudd said.
"That indicates to me that in three to four years, they will be pushing that at all chapters," he said. "With all the risk nationwide, it is inevitable."
Bill Nelson, greek program coordinator and assistant director of the organizations and activities center, said that every year more campuses were making decisions to go alcohol-free. But the degree to which they are alcohol-free varies.
Most fraternities that have banned alcohol, such as those at Iowa and Colorado, have done so only at parties at chapter houses and not in members' rooms. Other fraternities, such as those at Utah State, have banned alcohol completely from their houses.
Mudd said that he expected the University of Kansas to take gradual steps toward reducing alcohol and, eventually, ban it from all house parties but not from the houses.
KU to revamp programs for underclassmen
"We need to solve problems in incremental steps and not just do something that looks good," Mudd said.
By Novelda Sommers Kansan staff writer
Freshman and sophomore education at the University of Kansas is not making the grade.
A report released Friday by the office of academic affairs outlines ways that underclass education is changing for the worse.
"We did not whitewash this thing," said Allan Cigler, professor of political science and chairman of the Freshman Sophomore Experience Committee, which compiled the report. "There are a lot of good things happening, but there is a core group, which is a bigger figure than it should be, that is not connecting with the University."
The committee began their work in 1993. Members held focus groups and surveyed 1,570 freshmen and sophomores enrolled in four 100-level classes. The committee also considered data from national studies.
Cigler cautioned that findings were qualitative and that specific conclusions could not be drawn from the report. Still, some of the information compiled by the committee painted a dismal picture of undergraduate education at the University.
The report said that faculty had noticed weaknesses in study skills, quantitative reasoning, analytical reading skills, writing skills and general background knowledge.
The University's open admissions policy may be to blame for the decreasing quality of students, the report suggests.
Surveys by the committee show that some students perceive education as a product that can be bought.
"It changes the tone of the experience," said Kathleen McClusky-Fawcett, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and member of the committee.
"Just because you pay for the opportunity to get the degree doesn't mean you should get one," McCluskey-Fawcett said.
The committee made more than 30 recommendations for the improvement of undergraduate education.
She said some of the suggestions already were in place because portions of the report had been prereleased. An honors program committee is looking at ways to include high-ability students who do not qualify for the program. A residence hall designated for students who are at risk academically also is in the works.
Precise painting
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
Cathy Day, San Francisco graduate student, works on stone lithography — painting a piece of stone — as part of a class at the Art and Design Building.
Simpson verdict is ready Decision to come at noon today
The Associated Press
Judge Lance Ito said the verdict would be read today at noon.
LOS ANGELES — O.J. Simpson's jurors reached a verdict yesterday after less than four hours of deliberations, a stunningly swift resolution to a sensational trial that took more than eight months to present.
It was one of the fastest verdict decisions in memory for such a long, high-profile trial, indicating that once the sequestered jury was permitted to break its silence, the panelists found they were all in agreement.
If they had any doubts, they apparently were answered by the rereading of testimony from limousine driver Allan Park, who gave a precise, minute-by-minute account of his efforts to rouse Simpson for a trip to the airport the night of the murders.
Stern-faced and dressed casually, the jurors spent about 75 minutes in court listening to a court reporter read Park's testimony about his arrival at Simpson's estate. When Ito gave the court reporter a 10-minute break, the jury forewoman quickly sent a note saying they had heard enough.
Three jurors took copious notes, particularly during the testimony about Park's 10:52 p.m. call from his boss — a crucial time in the prosecution's reconstruction of what happened the night of June 12, 1994, when Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were killed.
Celebrating Yom Kippur unites Jews of all sects in worship
By Hannah Naughton
Kansan staff writer
God will seal the book of life, and Jews around the world will worship to ensure their name will be in it.
This is the belief behind Yom Kippur, which begins tonight at sundown, ending the 10 days of awe that began with Rosh Hashanah Sept. 24 at sundown. According to Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah, the new year, opens the book of life, and in the following days Jewish people take stock of their lives and ask forgiveness from God and each other.
"It is the most serious holiday, the most powerful one," said Susan Elkins, coordinator of the University Information Center and member of the Jewish Community Center.
"On Yom Kippur, there are less differences
among Jews. It's the holiday, if Jews don't celebrate any other holiday, they will observe," she said.
There is a spectrum in how strictly Jews adhere to some teachings, ranging from the fundamentalist Orthodox sect to
Yom Kippur services
Tonight at the Kansas Union Ballroom:
At 7:30 p.m., services begin. The Kol Nidre prayer is sung three times during this service.
Services will be held tomorrow from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.at the Jewish Community Center, 917 Highland Dr.
At 6:00 p.m., the prayer, Ne'liah is said, to seal the names in the book of life.
Services are completed at sundown.
the Conservative sect to the more liberal Reform sect, said Debbie Baron, Sloux City, Iowa, senior and Orthodox Jew. The Reconstructionist sect does not fall as neatly into
assist in leading tonight's and tomorrow's ceremonies.
"It normally is the one time of year when all
Jews can come together and worship," said
the spectrum but tends to be more liberal.
Levels of difference in practicing certain laws separate the sects, said Richard Buck, Chicago graduate student and graduate teaching assistant in Western Civilization who will
Brian Liebick, Dallas senior, who considers himself to be a traditional-reformed Jew.
The Jewish Community Center is the Lawrence synagogue, Elkins said. It is special because it is not affiliated with any one sect and tries to accommodate everyone's beliefs.
Members of all sects participate in Jewish Community Center services for Yom Kippur, she said. However, some Orthodox Jews may choose to go to Kansas City to a more conservative synagogue because tonight's service will be led by a woman.
Amy Leffo, Las Vegas senior, will sing the prayer of Kol Nidre tonight in the Kansas Union Ballroom. About 600 to 700 people are expected to attend the service.
"For everything we do, there is a reason. Not all Jews agree on the reason, but there's always a'why," Baron said.