TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1995
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
SECTION A VOL.102.NO.17
ADVERTISING 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
TODAY KANSAN
SPORTS
Jayhawks have a short week
The Kansas football team steps up the pace in preparing to face TCU. Page 1B
CAMPUS
Clothing mandatory
NiteOwls' patrons put their clothes back on. Page 3A
NATION
Plane crash kills 12
A Virginia home was consumed by fire when a plane carrying skydivers slammed into it yesterday. Page 5A
WORLD
French police seek bombing suspects
Raids in Paris and throughout the country net suspects in a series of deadly bombings. Page 5A
WEATHER
a chance for rain
High 78° Low 58°
Weather: Page 2A
INDEX
Features ... 6A
Scoreboard ... 2B
Horoscopes ... 4B
National News ... 5A
World News ... 5B
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.
Clinton rails against education cuts
President discusses importance of loans investing in learning
By Josh Yancey
Kansan staff writer
President Clinton made his way into a University of Kansas classroom yesterday and discussed the future of student financial aid and education programs in the United States.
Clinton was addressing students at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., and his speech was transmitted via satellite to 50 universities, including KU. About
70 people crammed into a basement room in Lippincott Hall and listened to some of the University's and region's Democratic leaders before watching the speech.
Clinton stressed the importance of investment in education and reminded the audience that college graduates made an average of 74 percent more in their lifetimes than those with only a high school diploma.
"Unless we can better educate our people, too many will be left behind in the next century," Clinton said. "It is penny-wise and pound foolish to balance the budget by cutting education."
Tedd Miller, president of KU Young Democrats, lambasted the Republican Congress for what he
said were proposed changes that would negatively affect students who needed financial aid.
"For the almost 50 percent of KU students who receive some sort of financial aid, some may be denied the chance to climb the ladder of opportunity," he said. "How can a group of people that relies on Rush Limbaugh for information speak of educational advancement?"
Miller said Republicans in the House of Representatives had proposed $321 million in cuts to education and training in Kansas, including cuts in Head Start, Safe and Drug-Free Schools, and Goals 2000, and had proposed raising the cost of loans for college students.
Christy Levings, president of the Olathe National Education Association, said cuts could hurt the already financially strapped school districts.
She held up a bag of cookies.
"As an educator and a parent, I've been involved in many bake sales," Levings said. "At this rate, I'll have to sell these cookies at $1,000 each to make up for losses."
Members of KU Democrats plan to march at 12:30 tomorrow aftermoon from Wescoe Hall to the Lawrence office of Rep. Jan Meyers, R-Kansas, at Ninth and Mississippi streets. The group said Meyers had been an advocate of the proposed cuts.
Samatha Bowman, Wichita sophomore and chairwoman of KU College Republicans, said her group planned to hand out fliers
during the march to clear misconceptions about the cuts.
"The cuts are minor, and everyone is being cut. It's all in the name of balancing the budget," Bowman said. "The majority of cuts are in how the loans are delivered. The goal is to get the deficit under control, which Clinton has failed to do."
Bowman said that balancing the budget would eliminate the more than $300 billion spent on interest, therefore increasing investment in private business and industries and increasing the job pool for graduates.
"The deficit must be kept under control," she said. "It is extremely short-sighted to get upset about these cuts."
Under the big top
Barbara the elephant helps set up the big top at the Douglas County Fair Grounds. The Gupepper Marriweather Circus performed two shows Friday night. The circus has toured since March and is one of four remaining traveling big tops.
Edme Rodriguez / MANRAM
'Kids'a disturbing but profitable movie
Unflinching sex, drugs grosses millions while grossing out students
By Craig Lang Kansan staff writer
Watching "Kids" made Steve Willingham ill.
Although he was glad he saw the movie about New York teenagers, Willingham, a Manhattan junior, said he never planned to see it again.
"I was sick after seeing it," he said.
"Kids" takes place during a 24-hour period and shows the lives of a group of inner-city teen-agers who
drink alcohol,
take drugs and
constantly talk
about sex. The film was written by 19-year-old H a r m o n y
Korine after he dropped out of high school.
Josh Brown,
Manhattan
sophomore, said
the entire movie
was disturbing,
starting with the
first scene.
In the beginning.
"I would recommend this film because you learn about something you wouldn't normally see," Willingham said.
Willingham said the movie was good because it alerted people to what many inner-city teens were doing these days. He said that showing the film's content in the most raw form might prompt parents and teens to talk about it.
thought they would be. He said public response to the film had been generally positive, although a few people had complained.
"A couple of people have asked why do we show it," he said. "They say we should stop showing it for the general good of the community."
Josh Brown
Manhattan sophomore
the main character, 15-year-old Telly, played by Leo Fitzpatrick, kisses a girl two or three years younger just before she seduces her. Brown said everyone in the theater was crossing their legs and squirming during that scene.
"It sets you off on an uncomfortable ivor ride," he said.
Scott Bliss, operator of Liberty Hall Cinema, 642 Massachusetts St., said the movie was doing very well for a low-budget film. Nationwide, the film has grossed $10 million.
"I think it's done better than I expected," he said.
Bliss said that because of the media attention the film had received, people had not been as shocked and disturbed as he
Andrea Gross,
St. Louis freshman, said the best-case scenario would be that parents,
after seeing the film, would sit down and talk to their children about sex and drugs.
In the movie, a large group of teens attend an all-night party, where alcohol is served and no
parents are around. At the same party, several of the kids have unprotected sex.
Gross said the movie was a way to give parents a wake-up call because most parents would not be willing to accept that their children were doing these kinds of things.
"You can't tell parents their kid is bad." she said.
Willingham said one problem with the film was that kids of the age group featured in the film would watch the movie and simply laugh at the things the characters did instead of trying to figure out what the film was saying.
"I think the people the message is aimed toward will not get the message," he said.
Housing center bill faces many criticisms
By Sarah Wlese
Kansan staff writer
Although a bill to provide $20,300 to the proposed Lawrence Housing Center was tabled by the finance committee Wednesday, debate continues.
Perhaps the most debated question is whether the center would duplicate services offered by Legal Services for Students, which receives about $200,000 a year from Student Senate. Article VII of the Student Senate Rules and Regulations prohibits financing an organization that creates duplication of services.
Bill No. 1906-012, sponsored by Ami Hizer, holdover senator, faces criticism on several fronts, from duplication of services to whether the bill meets guidelines for receiving funding.
From the outset, Hizer has maintained that the center would provide pre-legal advising, counseling and information about housing
issues, whereas Legal Services for Students provides help only when legal action takes place.
Chifford Wiley, one of three lawyers at Legal Services for Students, said the office handled a range of housing issues, including helping students understand leasing agreements and rights as a tenant, getting back security deposits, and dealing with other landlord/tenant problems.
Legal Services for Students handles housing-related problems before, during and after they reach the legal stage, Wiley said. Services are free to KU students. The office's only limitation is that its staff cannot advise or counsel one KU student against another KU student.
Andy Obermüller, finance committee member, said he thought the center was clearly a duplication of services and that the bill would not make it out of the finance committee.
"I think if it comes back onto the floor, it will fail any vote taken," Obmuerella said.
Another key issue is who should pay the center's operating costs. Hizer said that the center would be a joint venture between Senate and the city of Lawrence and that both sides would provide $20,300 for the first year and ongoing future financing. Both KU students and Lawrence residents would use the center's services free of charge.
Jay Leipzig, housing coordinator for the city, said the city had provided $8,500 for start-up costs for the center, which has been working out of the Consumer Credit Counseling office since June. However, the city has not committed or promised money to the center beyond the $8,500 start-up cost, Leipzig said. That means the $20,300 for the city's end of the venture would not be guaranteed.
Ken Martin, chairman of the Student Senate Executive Committee, said that passing the bill would set a bad precedent.
"I don't want Senate to get into the habit of funding community projects with University money," he said.
Hizer said that last year about 2,000 students had used the service, which was routed through the Housing and Credit Counseling Inc. office in Topeka.
A third issue is whether the center can be financed at all. Under Senate rules and regulations, money from Senate's unallocated account can be given only to registered student organizations, Martin said. The center is not such an organization and therefore is not entitled to money from that account.
Martin said either StudEx or the finance committee could rule the bill out of order on those grounds alone.
The root of all three problems is a lack of research before the bill was presented, Martin said.
"Little research has been done, on everyone's part, as to where the money would come from," he said. "If it might have be appropriate to refer the idea to a committee to determine how best to fund a project of this size. The unallocated fund just isn't it."