VOL.101.NO.13
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
TOPCKA KS 66612
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER11, 1991
ADVERTISING:864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
Wet outside, wetter inside
But rain not cause of flood at library; pipes are to blame
By William Ramsey
Kansan staff writer
During last night's rainstorm, pipes above the fourth floor ceiling on the building's west side burst, sending a steady stream of water down the elevator shaft, stair-wall and walls.
Last night, students at Anschutz Science Library had an unexpected study break.
"I was studying my Spanish, and I noticed a crackling sound in the wall," said Kathy Oliver, Overland Park sophomore. "Then Heard the speakers saying we had to leave. And, at the same time, the water fountain next to the bathroom was spurting like crazy, flooding the whole floor."
Library officials noticed water on the fourth floor and called police around 6:45 p.m. About 50 people were evacuated from the library.
Most of the damage was done to the floor, library officials said. Few books were affected. Books are not stacked on the bottom shelf to prevent them from being damaged in the event of a flood.
dangled in the event of a computer. John Miller, automation librarian, was working on the computer in his fourth-floor office when he heard a noise
He said he thought there had been an electrical surge. I just heard a crack or something. Miller said.
Jussie Buchholz, an assistant director for facilities operations, said that emergency officials responded in about six minutes to the call from the library.
Fire department officials arrived at the scene and crossed a catwalk to check the fifth-floor attic where two individuals were found.
Maintenance personnel on the scene shut off the water.
water.
Despite a smoky smell in the library, fire department officials said that there had been no fire and that they had not seen evidence that lightning had struck the building. They said the smell might have been from the damaged sprinkler system.
drainage sprayer system
While water dripped through rooms on the building's west side, fire officials checked the first floor where water had formed a pool.
water and fire no longer posi-
Firical officials shuffled through 2-inch-deep water near the stairwell. They moved boxes of books from the flooded storage room to nearby tables.
At least eight fire department officials were at the science library.
The library reopened yesterday after 10 p.m. said Lorraine Knox, librarian. She said the library would
A cost estimate of the damage will not be ready until today, she said.
Kansan staff writer Alexander Bloemhof contributed information to this story.
A University maintenance worker and a kU police officer dodge a flood of water while attempting to fix a broken pipe last night in Anschutz Science Library. About 50 people were evacuated after water pipes broke
Lobbyists say Fulcher still an able leader
By William Ramsey
Kansan staff writer
Darren Fulcher's ability to promote University issues at the state level has not changed because of a battery charge against him, state lobbyists for higher education say.
Fulcher was charged with battering his ex-girlfriend, who is a KU student, during a court hearing in February. He was charged with assault and court reports.
"His knowledge about the issues has not changed," said Scott Brunner, lobbyist and student-body president at Emporia State University. "His knowledge about what students want and need has not changed, and his ability to deal with issues at a state level won't change."
As student-body president, Fulcher represents the University of Kansas on the Board of Regents Students' Advisory Committee and on the Associated Students of Kansas' board of directors.
As members of SAC, student-body presidents from each Regents institution, along with Kansas State University's College of Technology in Salina, report university concerns to the Regents.
The presidents also act as the board of directors for ASK, a lobbying group that voices student concerns to the Legislature.
Fulcher said yesterday that he would not resign and that he still could push issues such as tuition and student fee concerns effectively to gain the Legislature's attention.
"I think the most important thing for me to do that will gauge my effectiveness is to work hard, "he said.
"I don't ask anyone to respect me personally, because I respect myself."
Species speci-
John Welsh, Regents staff member of the advisory com-
mittee, said the group had not discussed Fulcher's battery
charges and probably would not.
charging up his phone, "It will not impede my plans," Welsh said. "It will not affect how I work with him, and it will not affect how I work with SAC."
Sarah Scribner, student-body president of Pittsburg State University and chairperson of SAC, said the incident was not an issue with the group.
However, she said that she recognized the difficulty of his position as KU's student-body president.
On Thursday, Student Senate voted 41-20 with one abstention to pass a non-binding resolution asking for Fulcher's resignation. He does not have to resign or respond to the resolution.
"If you know someone doesn't have the backing of their students, it could make you question how well they can rep
State Rep. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, said the issue should be resolved quickly,
"If he has the support of the student body, then I won't have any problem working with him," she said.
Timothy Nimz, executive director of ASK, said that that organization supported Fulcher as long as he was KU's representative. Nimz said he doubted if ASK would take any sort of position until KU takes some action.
Kristie Wardell, legislative director of ASK, said she was shocked to hear of Fulcher's battery charges.
However, legislators may forget about the incident by the 1992 legislative session, she said.
Vigil honors violence victims; group's focus not Fulcher issue
Kansan staff writer
By Rochelle Olson Kansan staff writer
About 50 students honored victims of domestic violence last night in a candlelight vigil on the front steps of Strong Hall.
"What we want to do is put the focus back on domestic violence and honor women who have survived and those who have not," said Connie Burk, member of Students Against Violence Against Womyn.
Students Against Violence Against Womyn and the Women's Student Union sponsored the vigil.
Students Against Violence Against Women no longer wants to focus on Student-Body President Darren Furler, Burk
A campus women's group wants a change made to the student code.
said.
A coalition of campus women's organizations, including the two groups, issued a statement last week requesting Fulcher's resignation.
Fulcher was charged with battering his ex-girlfriend, a KU student, during a domestic dispute in Lawrence, according to Lawrence police and court reports.
in violence.
Burk made a statement requesting that the University amend the student code to include acts of violence between students that occur off campus in KU's legal jurisdiction.
there said that,
izations would continue to ask for his resignation but that it
was not the focus of the vigil.
was not the focus of the fight.
Students took turns reading sections from a poem that stressed the importance of remembering victims of domestic violence.
Burk said that the organi
students that need to do so.
She also said the code should be more accessible to students. Information about types of violence and disciplinary decisions also should be available, Burk said.
Jennifer Boyle, Lake Bluff, III, senior and member of women's Student Council, was the vignetting by the vigil's publicity had been limited.
"Now is the time to address women and healing and make some new people aware of how many people are survivors," Boyle said. "It is the women that are most important."
Sitting on Strong Hall's steps, the students observed a moment of silence and sang "We Are Gentle, Angry People."
Jennifer Ansel, Lawrence senior, agreed.
Jennifer Bovie sings at last night's vigil.
"Anytime something happens that brings domestic violence back onto floor, it makes a lot of us angry and hurt again," Ansley said. "Any kind of action we can take to make people aware that it is a problem is crucial."
"The administration and the University know why we are here." Ansley said.
She said that the vigil was also a demonstration of support for victims.
She said that the vigil made a statement
"The administration is doing its part."
"It is important for domestic violence victims to know we are out here and that we care," Ansley said.
Thomas quiet on abortion views
But when asked whether the privacy right extends to women choosing to end their pregnancies, Thomas said that the issue was likely to return to the Supreme Court and added, "I do not think I could maintain my impartiality and comment on that."
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas went before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday and said he recognized a constitutional right to privacy. But he refused to say whether a abortion is a constitutional right based on individual privacy.
Delivering a 12-minute opening statement in a voice that at times broke with emotion, Thomas said he was indebted to those who used his talents and the skills of their talents" so he could escape from a life of discrimination and poverty.
"There is a right to privacy," Thomas said in response to the initial questions asked by the committee's chairman, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. "The issue of marital privacy is protected."
Leading Democrats on the committee said they would ask Thomas whether he favors a radical change in the law — including a ban on abortion.
Thomas did not address those issues in his brief opening statement. Instead, he recalled a child named Robert South and his Catholic education.
"I watched as my grandfather was called 'boy.' I watched as my grandmother suffered the indignity of being denied the use of a bathroom. Through it all they remained fair and decent and good people." Thomas said.
Thomas also appeared to retreat significantly from former writings
"I don't see a role for natural law, or natural rights, in constitutional adjudication." Thomas said.
Thomas said he was indebted not only to his parents, grandparents and the Catholic murs who taught him, but also to justice Thurgood Lincoln. The president opened the seat that President Bush nominated him to.
Thomas spoke after listening to senators who expressed their own views on his nomination and caudal pressure he could press him on his views of the law.
Speaking of civil rights pioneers, Thomas said he had benefited from "their lives, their blood, their tail-sut for them I would not be here."
Thomas sat quietly in a packed committee room, his family nearby, as Sen. Joseph Bidens pledged open and fair hearings. But Biden wasted time in getting to a topic expected to consume much of the hearings — Thomas' belief in natural law.
But Sen, Herb Kohl, D-Wis. told Thomas, "We'll want to know what you really think... Don't hide behind the argument that you can't discuss the issues."
and speeches about his belief in "natural law," a legal theory that some individual rights are inherent and independent of all government authority.
- requiring a nominee to pass an ideological 'litmus test' would seriously jeopardize the efficacy and security of the fundamental juridical, 'Thurmard said'.
Sen. Strom Thurmond, the panel's senior Republican, said Thomas' rulings as an appeals court judge were within the mainstream and warned his Democratic colleagues about inappropriate questions.
- television commercials,
  endorses by dozens of groups
  for and against, and a daily drum-
ment of support from President
ush
Abortion aside, Thomas also is expected to be questioned about his views on civil rights — especially in the action — and the right of privacy.
Even before Biden rapped the opening gavel, Thomas' nomination triggered a confirmation battle more akin to a political campaign
Thus was the stage set for 43 year-old Thomas' hearings.
There was a moment of humor when Biden asked Thomas how old he was. Thomas, 45, replied, "Well, I am 10," and lasted 10 weeks' since his nomination.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said that though Thomas had never commented publicly on abortion directly, the nominee once praised a speech that called abortion as constitutional equivalent of murder."
For the most part, Thomas sat quietly at the witness table while members of the committee outlined their views on his nomination.
But Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Ulah, a strong Thomas supporter, said Thomas should not be forced to spell out his views on abortion because Justice David H. Souter, who won Senate confirmation last year, was not required to do so.
Some critics contend Thomas holds natural-law views that could lead to the conclusion that fetuses born in the United States to outlaw all abortions.
Biden himself is an advocate of natural law in some form, but he said Thomas apparently holds "a vision of natural law that we have moved beyond."
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