CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, September 1, 1994
3A
Haskell limits enrollment
First-come, first-serve admittance procedure ends crowding problem
By Carlos Tejada
Kansan staff writer
For Dominic Palone, Haskell Indian Nations University suddenly seems much smaller.
"You can see the same person twice in one day now," said Palone, Haskell sophomore.
Despite mostly steady growth and a rising number of applicants, Haskell's fall enrollment has shrunk from 833 in 1993 to 791 this semester. The drop is a deliberate move by the university to curb enrollment and cope with limited resources, university officials said.
While the drop itself isn't huge, it's indicative of the problems Haskell faces as it tries to move into the future.
Hannes Combes, educational assistant to Haskell president Bob Martin, said enrollment was
minuted to avoid last year's overcrowding and resource problems.
"There were several hundred students who were not allowed to enroll," she said. "We couldn't handle any more than a certain number."
"We just wanted to make it more comfortable for students," he said.
Last year, Haskell's housing, which can accommodate only 700 students, was stretched to the limit by the record enrollment. Students slept three or four to a room, and 10 to 12 students slept on cots in the hall's' study rooms.
"They got upset and called Mom and Dad," King said. "The Haskell Board of Regents got involved. It was just too overcrowded."
This year, King said, overcrowding is not a problem, and students are more comfortable because of the limited enrollment.
The result of that, King said, could be rejecting a large number of students who otherwise would have been allowed to enroll.
But next semester, academic limits will be applied to students for the first time, King said.
Next semester's applicants must have a 2.0 grade point average and take the ACT test.
"I'm not sure what it's going to do," he said. "We might, I guess, lose one third of our applicants."
Unlike most universities, Haskell cannot apply to the state for a budget increase. As part of its treaty obligations to Native Americans, the federal government funds Haskell and provides free tuition and housing for students. But federal budget constraints and the federal deficit has tied up funds.
Student opinion about the enrollment limits was mixed. Jimmy Snyder, Haskell sophomore, said the future academic limits would have kept him out of Haskell because of his high school grades. But he said he had done well since coming to Haskell.
"They gave me a chance," he said. "Other students deserve a chance, too."
But Hilda Soza, Haskell sophomore, said limiting the number of students would reduce the confusion brought on by an overcrowded school.
Haskell enrollment
"It makes the school feel much more organized."
Haskell Indian Nations University has curtailed enrollment to fight budget restraints and overcrowding.
Jason Hansen / KANSAN
Micah Laaker/KANSAN
Source: Kensan staff reports
Amini Scholarship Hall is top choice for men
By Ashley Miller Kansan staff writer
When Amini Scholarship Hall opened in 1992, new students were eager to move in.
Amini Scholarship Hall, with all of its amenities, has been the University of Kansas'most sought after scholarship hall by male students.
Two years later, not much has changed.
Twoyears later, not luck has changed. Although students on the waiting list to move into scholarship halls could be placed in any hall, Amiu is the first with most male students.
"I think it's because of its newness and its bathroom," said Kami Thomas, assistant director of student housing. Amini's suites include two bedrooms with cable hookups, two walk-in closets, a living room and a bathroom. The entrance hall has new light fixtures; and the living room has new furniture, plus a leather sofa.
Thomas also said she thought students were choosing Amini because it featured central air conditioning.
Living in Amni cost no more than living in any other scholarship hall. Thomas said.'
Thomas said the scholarship hall had lived up to the expectations placed on it two years ago by student housing.
Our only expectation was that the hall would fit into the rest of the system and maintain the scholarship hall ideal," she said. Students in the scholarship halls tend to have an equal interest in academics and social activities, she said.
Although Amii has remained popular with new students, some residents of other scholarship halls say it still is struggling to fit into the scholarship hall community.
Amuni cost about $1.5 million to build. KU alumni K.K. and Margaret Amini of San Antonio, Texas gave most of the money for the hall. A small amount of the money was paid by the University.
Josh Hummert, president of Stephenson Scholarship Hall, said he thought that, although Amini was a part of the scholarship hall system, it still was set apart from other halls.
"Basically, the impression we've got is that they have more little cliques," Hummert said.
He said he thought that because students in Amiini didn't have to share items like bathrooms and televisions, the interaction needed to bring the group together was lost.
"They only really have to interact at meals," Hummert said.
Jason Haffield, Salina senior, lived in Stephenson prior to moving to Amini in 1923.
He said it had been hard to leave the hall for Amini because of the ties he had before. He decided to move because the idea of participating in a hall from the very beginning was appealing.
He said living in Amni was more pleasant now then when he first moved in.
"We got a lot of flack because we were new and had a lot of material extravagances," Hatfield said.
Amiini's decision to participate in Rock Chalk Revue with the Alpha Delta Pi sorority last year did not improve the image other scholarship halls had of Amiini, Hatfield said.
"We knew we would obviously be seen as setting ourselves away from the other halls," he said.
Jason Hart, one of the directors for the Alpha Delta Pi and Amini show, said Amini made the decision to participate with the sorority because the other scholarship halls seemed ambivalent to participating with Amini.
"Alpha Delta Piasked us, so we went with who wanted us," Hart said.
OBITUARIES
Former music professor dies at 87
He also taught cello at Washburn University in Topeka.
Raymond H. Stuhl, a former KU professor of music, died Aug. 28 in Lawrence. He was 87.
Stuhl taught music theory and cello at the University for 45 years before retiring in 1977.
Stuhl won the KU Hill Teaching Award in 1967 and the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in 1977. In 1990, he won the Teacher of the Year Award from the Kansas City chapter of the American String Teachers Association.
He was a founder of the KU Chamber Music Series and an honorary member of the New York Cello Society.
John Kelley, a former student, said Stuhl could bring out a student's strongest musical ability.
"He had an ability to bring out the best an individual had to offer," Kelley said. "He believed firmly that whatever musical capacity a student had, it was important to enhance those abilities."
whether it was technical competence or emotional expression.
Stuhl's wife, Alberta, said he was well known during his career for organizing a televised cello, violin and viola performance in Hoch Auditorium. About 160 musicians were recruited from seven states for the performance, she said.
According to Rumsey Funeral Home, which is handling the burial, a memorial concert for Stuhl is planned, but the time has not been determined.
med Center administrator dies at 75
Russell C. Mills, a former associate dean of the University of Kansas Medical Center, died Aug. 18 in Port Angeles, Wash. He was 75.
Mills came to the University's Lawrence campus in 1946 as an assistant professor of biochemistry. From 1951 until he left for the Med Center in 1962, he was a full professor and chairman of the department of biochemistry.
He became associate dean of the School of Medicine in 1966. During the summer of 1966, he was acting provost of the Med Center and acting dean of the School of Medicine.
In 1972, he became associate vice chancellor for health affairs, and in 1976 he became director of University Support Services.
From 1979 until his retirement, he was associate to the chancellor and the director of the Kansas Long Term Care Gerontology Center.
Frederick Holmes, a professor of medicine at the Med Center,
"Faculty don't always get along with administrators," he said.
But Holmes said Mills was able to bridge the differences.
Mills also was successful in getting federal funding for projects at the Med Center, Holmes said.
"He had a reputation as a master grant writer," he said.
said Mills was admired by both faculty and staff.
Holmes cited Mills' success in getting funding for the Gerontology Center as one example of his grant-writing prowess.
"He didn't know anything about gerontology, but he sat down for a few days and learned a little something about it." he said.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Adams Alumni Center. The family suggests contributions to the Center on Aging at the Med Center.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret.
Mills was born Nov. 13, 1918, in Milwaukee. He was the son of C.A. and Edith Parrett Mills.
Wetland stays under district's authority
Beaver dam removal now must be approved by Corps of Engineers
By Carlos Tejada Kansan staff writer
A government body has kept its right to evict beavers from a south-side waterway.
The Douglas County Commission voted 2-1 last night to keep the Baker Wetlands under the authority of the Wakarusa-Haskell-Eudora Drainage District. The vote clears a hurdle for the drainage district to remove beaver dams it says are blocking the path of a natural waterway.
District representatives had said the waterway served as an overflow valve for the Naismith Canal, which takes Lawrence's drainage runoff to the Wakarusa River. Baker officials had argued that the beaver dams helped retain water in the wetlands. Baker filed a motion earlier this month to be removed from the district's authority.
The issue now will be taken to the Army Corps of Engineers, which has final word over the matter because the wetlands are federally protected, and to the Douglas County District Court.
Jim Chappell, county commissioner, said last night that Baker University, which owns the wetlands, had to prove being under the authority of the district would harm the wetlands. Only then could the wetlands legally be removed from the district's authority. He said he voted against the motion because Baker had not successfully done that at a county commission meeting on Aug. 21.
Louie McEhaney, county commissioner, also voted against the motion. He said removal of the wetlands would impair the district's abilities to direct drainage.
"It's my strong feeling that if it were all to come out of the drainage district; it would have a serious effect north and west of the wetlands," McElhaney said.
But Mark Buhler, county commissioner, voted for the motion. He said the district's representatives had not proven to him that the beaver dams created a significant barrier to runoff.
"Although beaver dams do create impediments to drainage, I don't think two beaver dams are holding up all the water in the district," he said.
Source: Kansan staff reports
Micah Laaker/KANSAN
The decision also keeps alive a lawsuit filed by the district against Baker because the university would not allow access to the waterway. But Vince Monslow, Baker attorney, said the court had no jurisdiction over the matter.
Monslow also said he felt Baker proved conclusively Aug.21 that removing the dams would drain water from the wetlands.
But Clay Meseraull, district secretary, said the levy between the waterway and the wetlands would protect the wetlands.
"We haven't done any harm to Baker, and we're not planning to do harm to the wetlands," he said. "All the wetlands are to the south of the levy. We're
Supporters of the beaver dams said the decision was made out of ignorance of wetland issues.
not doing anything to that ground, and we don't want to."
"The decision to me indicates we're still dealing with a problem of officials not recognizing the environmental consequences of their actions," said Lena Johnson of the Alliance for Environmental Justice.
The Wakauraus-Haskell-Eudora Drainage District is a legal entity in charge of supervising drainage in a designated area. Residents of the area pay taxes and vote for a governing body.