THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1995
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS 864-4810
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.102 NO.24
(USPS 650-640)
TODAY KANSAN
SPORTS
Making a comeback
Kansas senior Chris Gaston works to regain strength for cross country competition. Page 1B
CAMPUS
Taking care of business
Twelve Ukrainian entrepreneurs and educators have come to KU to learn about business. Page 3A
NATION
AT&T to split once again
The company stunned the business world by announcing a voluntary three-way split. Page 5A
WORLD
Official unhurt in bomb attack
A Russian official escaped injury after his motorcade was bombed in Chechnya. Page 6A
WEATHER CONTINUING COLD
High 49° Low 42°
Weather: Page 2A.
INDEX
On Campus ... 2A
National News ... 5A
World News ... 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 labeled a good value
National magazine ranks universities
By Josh Yancey
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas' tuition rates and academic reputation make it one of the nation's better buys in higher education.
Boy hockey.
Or so said U.S. News & World Report, which ranked universities by categories including best buy, academic reputation and overall quality. KU ranked highly in several of these areas.
In academic reputation, the University ranked 28th out of 147 public universities and 58th out 229 national universities, a category that
included public and private schools. The academic ranking was determined by academic standards, freshman class rankings, per-student spending and student retention.
Deborah Teeter, director of institutional research and planning, said that the ranking system changed often but that the changes had little effect on the University's ranking.
"These things are not totally precise, but any small changes they make to the ranking system aren't very important," Teeter said. "We have remained stable."
KU led the Big Eight in overall ranking. The School of Business ranked 48th in the nation, tying with Boston University's and the University of Florida's.
Harvard University ranked No.1 in the list of the 229 best national universities. Ninety-one percent of Harvard's freshmen are in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class, and Harvard spends almost $40,000 on each student. It accepts only 14 percent of its applicants.
KU ranked 27th out of 50 universities in a "sticker price" ranking system, which compared the school's academic quality ranking with its total tuition, fees and room and board. Nonresident tuition figures were used.
Iowa State University, at $11,574,
was 16th on the list. The University of
Missouri was 31st at $13,532.
The ranking can be confusing, because a school like "Texas" Rice University, at $17,013 per year, ranked 10th. Because of its high academic quality ranking, however,
Rice is still seen as a better buy. Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., was 40th, at $22,965 per year.
KU's neighbors in the ranking are the University of California at Berkeley, 26th at $18,512 per year, and the University of California at Davis, 28th at $17,156 per year. Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, led at $7,415 per year.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway bones to improve KU's ranking.
"U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks the University of Kansas among the nation's best public universities," Hemenway said. "I am pleased KU is placed among such distinguished and respected company. Independent verification of KU's excellent academic reputation is always gratified."
KU AT THE TOP
The academic rankings of Big Eight universities in the "America's Best Colleges" issue of U.S. News & World Report:
Educational building blocks
The University
of Missouri . . . 58th
• Iowa State
of Kansas . . . 25th
• The University
or Colorado . . . 36th
• The University
University ...64th
• The University
of Nebraska ..73rd
• The University
KU students prepare for blastoff
The University of Oklahoma ..96th
Kansas State
University...106th Oklahoma State
Kansas State University...106th
- Oklahoma State University...129th
Engineering group constructs rocket
By Hannah Naughton
Kansan staff writer
T-minus 23 days and counting.
After a year of designing and fabricating, the Rocket Systems Development Organization is closing in on Oct. 13, the day it is scheduled to fire its rocket engine for the first time.
"When we started, we knew it would be an intense project," said Brian Schaal, Overland Park senior and president of the organization. "No one can fully realize what goes into it until you do it."
Brian Rink/KANSAN
The group was organized in the department of aerospace engineering last year to design and build from scratch each piece of a rocket engine then use the engine to launch a rocket.
The group began by choosing the specific characteristics of the engine, Schaal said. Members wanted a rocket motor that provided about 600 pounds of thrust, used liquid fuel as a propellant and burned for about 10 seconds.
Schaal said using liquid propellant for the engine was what made the project unique.
"It's never been done at the University," he said. "Rocket engines are not new technology, but for students to do it, it's pretty much unheard of."
The rocket is fueled by liquid oxygen and alcohol, Schaal said. These materials bring a risk factor to the planning. As isolated substances, both materials require careful handling. The liquid oxygen has a boiling point of -273 degrees Fahrenheit and easily could damage flesh. The alcohol, if ignited, creates a flame that is extremely hard to see and easily could burn a person.
"The point is that when you get the two together, that's the danger," Schaal said. "It's unbelievable what such a small amount could do. When the two are mixed it creates a gel substance which is very shock sensitive. In many cases it will explode spontaneously."
Brian Schaal, Overland Park senior, is one of five students working on a rocket motor and its propulsion system. The students are preparing to fire the engine on Oct. 13.
Schalai said safety precautions took 50 percent of the design time. For example, the students, who work at Lawrence Municipal Airport, 2500 Airport Road, measured the logistics of the laboratory to see what would happen if an explosion took place. The group discovered that it had to cover a bulletproof window with a steel plate so a blast would be contained.
"We determine the worst thing that could possibly happen and just plan on it happening." Schaal said.
The group has chosen two possible sites to launch a rocket with its engine, Schaal
The other site is in the library of the
group received $3,000 for the project
with the help of David Downing, professor
and chairman of the department, Schaal
said.
said. One is at Poker Flat Research Range at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. The other site is in the Mojave Desert.
Downing is the director of the NASA Kansas Space Grant Consortium, which provided most of the funds. The group also received funds from department contributions.
Hay Taghavi, associate professor of aerospace engineering and project adviser, said he asked the students think of the new name for their organization because there was nothing cheap about this project, as the old group's name implied.
"The Cheap Rocket Society did make some hybrid rockets, but it was a much smaller scale than what these guys are doing," Taghavi said. "These guys are extremely interested and active, which is why we can attack a project of this size."
Bicycle built from scratch to race in Reno
By Joann Birk
Kansan staff writer
Four KU students are getting class credit and University funding to ride their bicycle around Reno, Nevada.
But first, they have to design and build the bike. Adam Laudie, Brian Nab, Kerri Graunke, and Mike Stittsworth, all seniors from Overland Park, are the first human-powered vehicle team to represent the University.
The four mechanical engineering students are constructing a pedal-powered vehicle to compete in a road race April 26-28 at the University of Nevada-Reno. The race, which includes a top speed trial and a 65 kilometer road race, is sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
When the students heard about the competition last year, they saw the opportunity to use their final design project with an experience that they hoped would become a tradition in KU's mechanical engineering department, said Brian Nab. Their professors approved the idea and are helping with the planning and design.
helping what the planning was.
"This is the first year that KU has been involved, and we already have a list of students who want to do it next year," Nab said.
The vehicle plan is still in its beginning stages. Kerri Graunke said the team has already decided that the vehicle would include three wheels but was uncertain about the complete design.
Human-powered vehicles in the contest typically rely on a reclined rider position and an enclosed shell to increase aerodynamics, Nab said. The team said that many of its construction and design techniques, such as wind tunnel testing to sculpt the shape of the shell, were borrowed from the aerospace industry.
tower from the airplane. The team has estimated the cost of the vehicle to be $2,500, and the department of mechanical engineering is funding half the cost.
Nab said the vehicle would contain a number of components that could be donated by bicycle shops, but the frame and shell of the vehicle will be built by hand.
The construction and design of the vehicle is only half of the battle. Team members must also ride the vehicle in the long and winding 65 kilometer race, Graunke said. All four team members have begun training to race the vehicle.
The world record for a single rider on a human powered vehicle is 69 mph, but Nab said most vehicles in the college competition plateaued at about 50 mph.
Finance committee wrestles with bills totaling $3,500
By Sarah Wiese
Kansan staff writer
During last night's Student Senate finance committee meeting, committee members grappled with the issue of funding student organizations fairly.
The committee faced seven bills from registered student organizations asking for financial assistance. The requests totaled $3,500 from Senate's unallocated account, which started out with $45,000 this
year.
year.
About halfway through the meeting, Ward Cook, Mission Hills, sophomore and committee member, questioned the $2,200 the committee had allocated so far.
A bill that would give $397 to Students Tutoring for Literacy was being debated when Cook motioned to reduce the bill's advertising amount from $205 to $100.
Cook said that the committee had already given out quite a bit of money and that the 70 tutors the
group already had were adequate.
But Kelly Huffman, Bellevue, Neb., sophomore and committee member, said attracting more tutors would benefit the community.
"With only 70 tutors, you can't possibly get to all the people who need help." Huffman said.
KU students pay a $35 activity fee that Senate distributes to student and community organizations seeking funding. Gustavo Alvarado, San Ramon, Costa Rica, senior and committee member, said some committee members were trying to save money at the tutoring group's expense.
"I think we spend too much money generally," Reems said.
Travis Reems, Prairie Village freshman and committee member, said the committee needed to be more flaccid responsible.
"We're here to help students," Alvarado said. "This money doesn't belong to this committee or to Student Senate. It belongs to students."
1
it all the money were allocated early on, other organizations that needed funding later in the year would be denied, he said.
Reems said he also thought the people served by the tutoring group could get help elsewhere.
After the motion to reduce the group's advertising amount failed, committee members passed the bill as originally presented.
All seven bills that passed the finance committee last night will move on to full Senate Wednesday.