FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22,1995
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS 864-4810
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
SECTION A VOL.102 NO.25
ADVERTISING 864-4358
TODAY KANSAN
SPORTS
Jayhawk returns to nest
Former Kansas rower Tami Odell is the new assistant women's rowing coach. Page 1B
CAMPUS
Normal KU parking policies halt when the 'Hawks take the field. Page 3A
Parking rules to be broken
(USPS 650-640)
NATION
GOP reveals medicare plan
House Republicans unveiled a plan that they say would cut Medicare costs by $270 billion. Page 6A
WORLD
U. S.-Chinese relations worsen
The two countries are bickering about Tibet and President clinton's visit with the Dalai Lama. Page 7A
WEATHER
COLD AND CLOUDY
High 51° Low 33°
Weather: Page 2A
INDEX
Opinion . . . 4A
National News . . 6A
World News. . 7A
Features . . 8A
Sports. . 1B
Scoreboard. . 2B
Steve Punce / KANSAN
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.
A sign of things to come?
Katie Marsh, left, and Hallie Overman, both Overland Park sophomores, try to stay warm while waiting for the bus. Yesterday was one of the coldest September days Kansas has seen.
Weather may mean snowy winter
By Brenden Sager Kansan staff writer
Jennifer Jorganson couldn't walk to school yesterday — it was just too cold.
"I froze," said Jorganson, Dallas freshman. "I had to ask someone to drive me."
The mercury took a plunge toward freezing yesterday, which could be a harbinger of a cold and snowy winter to come, said Kevin Adams, graduate teaching assistant in meteorology. Adams takes the daily temperature and precipitation readings from instruments at Malott Hall every day at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. The data is then sent to the National Weather Service in Topeka.
This week's readings: on Monday, a high of 82 degrees and a low of 55; on Tuesday, a high of 89 degrees and a low of 59 with 1.09 inches of rain; on Wednesday, a high of 59 degrees and a low of 48; and yesterday, a high of 49 degrees and a low of 39 with 0.51 inches of rain.
The cold won't last for long thought. I think it will start to warm up this weekend," he said.
The cause for the unseasonably chilly weather was a cold front from Canada that moved quickly into the United States, he said.
Behind the front was a large mass of cold air that had been developing because of the waning sunshine in northern latitudes.
"This weather is not normal for this time of the year." Adams said.
The cold won't last for long though. "I think it will start to warm up this weekend." he said.
Adams said that as summer turned into fall, there was less sunlight in the arctic regions because of the tilt of the earth's rotation. Northern latitudes in fall and winter turn away from the sun, causing large masses of cold air to develop and head south for the winter.
But this particular air mass is colder than normal, he said.
And this might just be the beginning of snowy and chilly days.
Adams said the world was coming out of the El Niño — a global climate interaction in which sea level and temperature fluctuations affect the world's weather, usually occurring every ten years.
One of the tell-tale signs of a decreasing El Niño is an increase in Atlantic hurricane activity, a condition that has been met this year, he said.
Adams said that a possible effect of El Niño for Kansas was that Mount Oread may be a snow-capped peak throughout winter.
But that doesn't bother Tim Garvey, Chicago, Ill., senior.
"I'm prepared for anything," Garvey said. "I've never been to a more volatile climate than Kansas."
Garvey said he woke up yesterday morning, took a hot shower, took out his sweaters and his rain coat and hat.
Brrrrrr!
"Then I trudged off to school," he said.
What happened to fall?
Drastic drops in temperatures have KU students shivering.
But how cold is it? Highs, lows,
and rainfall for the week:
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
Med Center program is in danger
Regents may eliminate ailing heart transplant program
By Josh Yancey Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas Medical Center may have to pull the plug on its cardiac transplant program.
At the Board of Regents' monthly meeting yesterday, Regent Tom Hammond presented the conclusions of an independent committee's investigation of the troubled program.
"The committee concludes that there is minimal contribution of a cardiac transplantation program to the medical education process," Hammond read from the report. "Justification needs to be found in some other mission of the institution."
A committee of physicians from around the country spent six months investigating the program and preparing the report.
The Med Center's cardiac transplant program shut down in April after it had been unable to replace its primary transplant surgeon and had been criticized for refusing 22 potential transplant hearts for nonmedical reasons, including shortages of staff and surgeons.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Donald Hagen, executive vice chancellor of the medical center, began their terms at KU after the transplant program had closed, but they offered the regents their full cooperation and responsibility in resolving the situation.
"It is critical that everyone on a ship know the rules," said Hagen, a former Navy surgeon. "If one section is not trained, then that ship cannot go. It's the same in a hospital."
Hammond asked Hemenway and Hagen for reports on the center within 60 days of yesterday's meeting. After the regents view the reports, they could take further action, including shutting down the program permanently.
In other business:
Gloria Timmer, state budget director, provided the regents with an overview of state fiscal projections. One of her overhead projector slides carried a pessimistic message: "We have no money, therefore we must think."
Funding cuts and slim state budget projections have forced Gov. Bill Graves to order a 2-percent reduction in state jobs and 3 percent cuts in state payrolls in hopes of saving $18.4 million. Schools and universities were spared from the cuts, but the need for such reductions worries regents institutions.
"All I can tell you is that we thought we had about $90 million more than we actually did," Timmer said. "They're looking for $18 million of it now."
KU requested to enter a lease agreement with the Kansas University Endowment Association for site improvements for the Women's Research Institute and the Center for Primary Care at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita.
KU asked to amend its list of repair projects for fiscal year 1996 to include $137,350 in renovation repairs.
Med Center wary of possible merger
Kansan staff report
Administrators at the University of Kansas Medical Center have expressed reluctance at the suggestion of a merger with the Rainbow Mental Health Unit in Kansas City, Kan.
The Hospital Closure Commission proposed the consolidation of the Med Center's mental health treatment program with the Rainbow unit in an effort to cut administrative costs.
Donald Hagen, executive vice chancellor of the Med Center, said he was willing to consider the proposal on the possible consolidation, but wanted assurance that state and federal funding for the Rainbow unit would not be terminated.
"There are positives, and there are concerns," Hagen said. "We could lose an extra $2 to $3 million a year if they don't give us money to run it."
The Closure Commission, a 10-member committee established by the 1995 state legislature, is studying the potential effects of closing or consolidating various hospitals around Kansas.
Hagen said the commission suggested joining the Rainbow unit with the Med Center's mental health treatment program because both were in-patient hospitals in the same vicinity.
Hagen said he would not agree to any proposal until he was certain that the needs of mental health patients and the community were not ignored.
Martha Town, the superintendent of the Rainbow unit, said she also was reluctant to accept the possible merger.
"I don't think that we or the Med Center are in the position to make any changes right now," Town said.
Wheat Meet to benefit cancer research
Athletic philanthropy expected to raise $9,000
By Philip Brownlee
Kansan staff writer
Track and field events, bed races and a giant Simon-says contest are in store at the 1995 Wheat Meet, 9 a.m. Sunday at Memorial Stadium.
The annual event, sponsored by Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity and Alpha Chi Omega sorority, raises money for KU cancer research.
This year, organizers hope to raise $0.000.
"It's the biggest athletic, philanthropic event of the year," said Greg Andrews, Independence, Mo., senior and Wheat Meet co-organizer.
About 300 participants will compete in track and field events, in addition to some less serious contests.
Individual winners receive a T-shirt, and a trophy goes to the winning team.
The Beta Theta Pi fraternity is the reigning Wheat Meet champion and is ready to defend its title.
"We've been having practice a couple
“It is been time-consuming getting the entry sheets, planning heat sheets and organizing jobs for workers."
Amanda Long Hutchinson senior
times a week for the last month," said Brett Lulker, Sabeth senior and coach of the Beta Theta Pi team. "We've been fortunate because we've had good runners in the house."
Halfway through the meet, a giant Simon-says contest will be held on the football field. The Simon-says winner will earn two free round-trip airplane tickets plus hotel accommodations for a weekend in Chicago.
The meet concludes with a series of fun events, including a bed race in which teams must carry a member living on a bed mattress.
Amanda Long, Hutchinson senior and co-organizer of the meet, said a lot of work went into preparing for the meet. "It's been time-consuming getting the entry sheets, planning heat sheets and organizing jobs for workers," she said. "It's been a crazy last couple weeks."
Wheat Meet activities begin tonight with a party at the Granada with the bands Blues Head Beggars and Acoustic Juice and an Alpha Kappa Lambda band. Subtle Rebellion.
The party is open to all students, not just meet participants. Tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the door.
A raffle drawing will be held at the Granada for a trip to the Bahamas. The winner does not have to be present.
Long said that although the Wheat Meet competition was sometimes fierce, the participants had fun and enjoyed raising money for a worthy cause.
"The fraternities take it pretty seriously," she said. "But everyone has a real good time."
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