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INSAS STATE HISTORICAL
VOL. 101, NO. 105
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KA K8 66612
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER9,1991
(USPS 650-640)
ADVERTISING:864-4358
NEWS:864-4810
Grievance procedure gets review
Kansan staff writer
By Alexander Bloemhof
Kansan staff writer
The task force on grievance procedures has finished its final report, recommending reforms to the grievance procedures currently in effect at KU.
Jan Sheldon, co-chair of the task force, presented the report yesterday to the University Senate Executive Committee, the first governing body that has to act on the task force's recommendations.
Under current rules, a complaint first is heard in the school, department or office where the complaint originated. The complaint next can be brought before the Judicial Board, whose decision can be appealed.
Sheldon said the task force's main objectives had been to ensure that complaints were treated quickly and fairly, to clarify and simplify existing rules and to define the responsibilities of sentient bodies that could hear complaints.
Complaints range from student's grade appeals to suspension or dismissal of faculty. The report does not cover tenure-related problems.
During their consultations with administrators, faculty, staff and students, task force members most frequently heard concerns about the length of the process, the unclear and legalistic rules and unfair treatment of students at the complaint's originating level. Sheldon said.
After three years, the task force has completed its task of addressing shortcomings and suggesting remedies.
SenEx appointed the task force because previous investigations had revealed flaws and discrepancies in the treatment of prey prionic procedures, Sheldon said.
After SenEx has acted on the task report, it will be referred to University Council and eventually to the University Senate for approval.
The report includes 11 recommendations SenEx should act upon immediately and several options that do not Red Turnbull, task force co-director
Discussion during the SenEx meeting focused on a proposed change in the selection of members who can serve on grievance panels and the role of the University General Counsel in grievance procedures.
The task force suggested a random selection of panel members that would not take into account the status of a panel member at the University. According to the report, the selection could be done by lottery.
Current rules require that both parties be represented on a panel by people who belong to the same group as the parties, the report stated.
Random selection would eliminate the perception that panel members are biased in favor of the group they represented, Turnbull said.
Eric Strauss, chairperson of the Judicial Board, said random selection also would increase the number of people eligible to serve on a panel.
The task force also recommended that SenEx review the present rule that governs the highest-ranking Council to present the highest-ranking party involved in a grievance.
The task force made no specific recommendation on this point but stated, "There is some opposition to the present rule, on the basis that it provides a more class of members of the University community over other classes."
Moses Smith, Junction City senior, directs Inspirational Gospel Singers, a gospel choir made up of University of Kansas students. They performed for about 50 people at the Chancellor's Fountain behind the Chancellor's residence, which is on the east side of Watkins Scholarship Hall. The performance was sponsored by the University Scholarship Halls for Ethnic Reality, a student organization that began last year to combat racism within the scholarship halls and on campus.
Perfect harmony
Senate delays vote on Thomas
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday postponed its vote on Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court nomination for one week to investigate allegations that he sexually harassed a former aide. Thomas "totally and unencouragely" denied the accusation.
The chairperson of the Senate Judiciary Committee pledged public hearings about former Thomas aide Anita Hill's allegations. The hearings may be as early as Friday.
"The nominee has the right to be confronted by his accuser," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said referring to Hill.
Biden provided an outline for hearings after a day of drama in which Thomas requested a delay to clear his name and several crucial Democratic supporters said they could not vote for him until the allegations were aired.
Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole first called for a Friday vote, then agreed to the week delay proposed by Senate Democratic Leader George Mitchell. Dole predicted that Thomas ultimately would be confirmed by a
comfortable margin.
"This is a test for Clarence Thomas," Dole said. "It is a test of his character, and I believe he is up to the test."
Hill is a law professor who said Thomas made repeated lewd remarks to her when she worked for him a decade age. She said
she would cooperate with the Senate
"intend to go to Washington if it is request ed." she said.
Thomas, too, tapped to cooperate. Sen John Danforth, R-Mo., said Thomas told him, "I have to restore what they have taken from me. I have to approve the appropriate forum." I wrote my name.
Danforth complained bitterly that a confidential FBI report on the matter had been released.
Biden replied, "Any questions about his conduct in terms of whether or not he harassed this individual or any other individual are relevant."
The White House swiftly issued a statement in support of Thomas.
in support for Thomas.
"We will work with the committee and the full Senate to bring this matter to a vote, the statement said. " Judge Thomas is an outstanding individual who has demonstrated his honesty and integrity throughout his life."
1 omanas appeared to be a sure bet for confirmation until Hill's allegations became public during the weekend. His supporters initially fought a delay but relented when it became clear there might not be enough support for confirmation.
"It seemed to me it was a gamble not worth taking." Dole said.
The Senate agonized not only about how to proceed with the nomination but also with the larger issue of its sensitivity to the issue of sexual harassment.
In the agreement reached last night, the vote on the Thomas nomination will be delayed exactly one week, until 5 p.m. CDT on Oct.15.
"We are going to ventilate this subject to give both Professor Hill the opportunity to make her case in full and give the nominee his opportunity to state his defense in full," Bidon said.
Seven of 13 Democrats who had announced their support for Thomas called for a delay.
Danforth released a sworn affidavit in which the nominee said, "I totally and unequivocally deni Antia Hill's allegations of misconduct of any kind toward her, sexual or otherwise."
"At all times during the period she worked with me, our relationship was strictly professional," Thomas said. "During that time and subsequently, the relationship has been wholly cordial."
Danforth also produced telephone logs that Thomas kept as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicating that Hill telephoned him 11 times during a $3\frac{1}{2}$-year period after she left the agency.
On the Senate floor, Orrin Hatch, R-Uah,
recited the list of Hill's telephone calls and
asked, "Does this sound like a victim calling
her harasser?"
Dole, Kassebaum still supporting Thomas
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Sen. Nancy Kassebaum says she continues to back Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas despite sexual harassment allegations against him.
However, Kassebaum said yesterday that she wanted to hear Thomas personally speak out on the allegations and answer questions about the issue.
"I have not heard Clarence Thomas publicly answer this. I personally believe that is important." Kassebaum said. "Up until then, I will continue my support."
The Senate agreed to delay the confirmation vote until Oct. 15. It allow time for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the allegations. A formal request for a delay was made on behalf
Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole had sought to reschedule the vote no later than Friday. Dole mains opposition nation was not headed for defeat because of the allegations.
of Thomas, who said he wanted a chance to clear his name.
"I'm willing to stand
I'm wishing to stand here and predict, unless there is some bombshell out there that I haven't heard about, that on next Tuesday, Clarence Thomas will be confirmed by a good margin and by a bipartisan margin," Dole said.
Nancy Kassebaum
Kasbaeham said she had hoped that the vote could have been approved during the second assembly.
She said Thomas could have addressed the allegations to her satisfaction by meeting privately with senators, or he could have answered questions from reporters.
Bob Dole
tells me that Had Thomas done either of those things. Kassebaum said, the Senate might have been able to vote yesterday.
Thomas issued a sworn statement yesterday denying the allegations of sexual harassment
by Anita Hill, a tenured law professor at the University of Oklahoma. She worked as Thomas' assistant at the Education Department and later at Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the early 1980s.
Kassbaum said she had read an FBI report on the allegations and watched a televised news conference by Hill on Monday. She said Hill had been very credible in the news conference. But she said Thomas "has been a person of certainly great sensitivity."
She said the committee hearing might not clearly decide the issue for many lawmakers.
"We have two credible people who are diametrically opposed in their statements," Kassebaum said. "I'm not sure there's an easy way to resolve it."
Completion of pair's cross-country journey hinges on cookies
Down to $2, women from Massachusetts resort to bake sales to earn cash for trip across America
By Jennifer Bach
Kansas staff writer
Kansanstaffwriter
The travelers, Crasta Duggan, 17, and Elaine Schwartz, 20, will continue to sell their chocolate-chip "cross-country cookies" for 50 cents each, or three for $1, until they raise enough money to continue their journey.
When two young women left their hometown of Worcester, Mass, in August to travel across the country, they had no idea they would end up selling cookies in La wrance.
But for the past nine days — after unusual circumstances left them without transportation or money — that's what they've been doing.
"We never expected this would happen." Duggan said.
"But, we don't see it as a downfall."
The two,who are not in school, spontaneously decided to travel across the country to see as much of the United States as they could while they still were young.
On Sept. 12, Duggan and Schwartz found themselves stranded in Lawrence without a car and only $2 between them
They had arrived in an old, blue Chevrolet station wagon with another friend. They planned to visit a friend from Worcester who now lives in Lawrence.
During their first two weeks in town, they considered getting jobs to earn money so they could continue their journey. But neither of the two girls wanted to work daily jobs.
The three were planning to continue traveling west, but their other traveling companion, who owns the station wagon, liked Lawrence and decided to stay.
During a brainstorming session, they found a solution to their problem.
Duggan jokingly suggested that they have a bake sale, and the two have been selling chocolate-chip cookies ever since.
"We were sitting at our friend's house with $2 in our pocket," Schwartz said. "We knew we had to do something. Wehad no way of leaving."
The girls borrowed $$$ from their friend and purchased just enough ingredients to make one batch of cookies.
Every night, Duggan and Schwartz bake cookies at
their friend's home. The们 then stand in the 1200 block of Oread Avenue until the cookies are sold.
they have saved about $70 from their sales, but they want to save about 250 dollars to continue their journey to Arizona and their final destination, California.
People strolling by the women have been buying their cookies, and some have donated money to them.
cookies, and some other things.
"We tell our story a few hundred times a day," Schwartz said. "Many people stop and listen and want to know what we are doing."
Duggan and Schwartz plan to sell their cookies on the outskirts of the KU campus for two more weeks before continuing their travels, they said.
The girls had tried to sell their cookies on campus but were informed by Student Union Activities that food sold on campus must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Regardless of the turn their trip took in Lawrence, Dugan and Schwartz said they still wanted to see the country.
"It's a really good experience," Schwartz said. "We may even come by Lawrence on our way back."
justin Knopp / KANSAN
Walking home from class, Ashley Stout, left, Fayetteville, Ark, freshmen stamps to buy cookies from Eleanor Schwartz.