WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1996
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS 864-4810
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.102.NO.6
(USPS 650-640)
TODAY KANSAN
SPORTS
Our man in Atlanta
Former Kansas pole vaulter Scott Huffman will compete in the 1996 Olympics. Page 6A
CAMPUS
Watering holes
Damage to the Chi Omega fountain causes brief closure to make repairs. Page 3A
NATION
Senate approves of wage hike
Lawmakers vote 74-24 to increase minimum wage by 90 cents. Page 3B
WORLD
Netanyahu pays visit to America
The Israeli prime minister tells President Clinton he will not move forward on Middle East peacemaking until terrorism is halted. Page 4B
WEATHER MOSTLY CLOUDY
High 78°
Low 60°
INDEX
KU Life ...1B
Sports ...6A
Opinion ...4A
National News ...3B
World News...4B
Football team fumbles in class
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
Few players finish school
By Spencer Duncan
Kansan staff writer
The Kansas football team has begun the Big 12 Conference season last in one area: graduation.
Thirty-one percent of Jayhawk football players who enrolled at the University in the 1989-90 academic year had graduated by last summer, according to a new NCAA report.
"We are concerned about a 31 percent graduation rate," said Bob Frederick, Kansas athletic director. "We hope those numbers improve."
We have some work to do."
Nebraska had the highest graduation percentage in the Big 12 according to the report,leading the conference with a 74 percent graduation rate.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway said, "My belief is that the numbers will improve. These numbers are a kind of wake-up call. The coaches, the athletes and academic support work hard, and they will continue do so."
The Jayhawks also were 23 percent below the national average of 54 percent.
the graduation rate of Jayhawk football players was far below the University's overall 1989 graduation rate, which was 56 percent.
Athletes who transferred to the University after their freshman year were not included in the study. Players who left the University for any reason were considered non-graduates in the study.
The NCAA report focused only on athletes who received sports-related
Frederick made no excuses for the low graduation rate, but he said that many different factors needed to be considered.
One factor, said Frederick, was that some players may have graduated from other schools.
financial aid.
"If a student leaves the University in good standing after being recruited and goes and graduates from Harvard, then he will be considered a non-graduate." he said.
The report also did not take into consideration the difference in degrees offered, Frederick said.
"I am not concerned with the fact of whether a student is an athlete or not. I am concerned that students are having problems graduating," Hemenway said. "KU should be at the top of everything, no matter what. I look forward to our numbers going up."
The next step, according to Freuerick and Hemenway, is for the football program to find ways to improve the graduation rate. The low graduation rate was a disappointment for the University, Hemenway said, and steps will be taken to improve players' ability to graduate.
Kansas does not offer degrees in athletics geared toward the student-athlete. This means that athletes at the University have may have to work harder than athletes at other colleges.
Dropping the ball
Source: Nebraska Sports Information
Edmée Rodriguez/KANSAN
Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, represents the 2nd District in the Kansas Senate. She describes herself and her district as moderate to liberal.
After six years of serving in the Legislature Sandy Praeger has earned a reputation as
By Tom Moore
Kansan staff writer
Sandy Praeger projects an image of sophistication and taste as she strokes the long black fur of the cat sleeping in her lap, its color contrasting with her white tennis shirt bearing the Alvamar Country Club logo. Her laugh breaks from the careful tone of a politician, sounding like the giddy laughter of a school girl.
These days laughter doesn't come easy for Praeger, R-Lawrence, represents the 2nd District in the Kansas Senate. "It's tough to be a moderate Republican right now," says Praeger, whose recent battles have been fought within her own party rather than with Democrats.
She classifies her district as moderate-toliberal, which also describes her.
"I want this party to return to the idea of the 'big tent,' to be more inclusive. Apathy in the moderate wing of the party helped the right take control." Praeger says.
Praeger attended Paola High School and later the University of Kansas, graduating in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in education. She taught school in the Kansas City area for two years while her husband,
Praeger champions issues such as personal freedom. "I'm pro-choice; my stance on abortion will never change," Praeger says. "I also don't support a constitutional amendment banning flag burning. I cannot lead the voters of Lawrence down a path they won't follow."
"I can still vividly remember reading in 1952 when Dwight Eisenhower ran against Adlai Stevenson," Praeger recalls.
Praeger's interest in politics was piqued as a child by reading the newspaper while sitting on her grandmother's law.
Mark, finished his medical degree. Praeger moved with her husband to Denver, where she began to raise their two children, J.D. and Gretchen, and worked as an administrative assistant at Samsonite Corp. In 1977, the couple moved to Lawrence where Praeger's husband set up practice as a general surgeon.
"There was never any question where we'd live," Praeger remembers. "We both love Lawrence very much."
Praeger's love for Lawrence led her to run for city commission in 1985, where she served as mayor from 1986 to 1987 and first felt the sting of criticism from the conservative right.
In 1985, a depressed KU student went to a local gun store, bought a hand gun and went to Holcom Park where she killed herself.
"We had to deal with gun control. I decided it was important to take a stand on the issue," Praeger says. "Perhaps if there had been a three-day waiting period, someone would have intervened. I thought if every city had a local ordinance, then eventually the federal government would be forced to do something."
In 1990, Praeger won a House seat, defeating Democrat Barbara Ballard by 200 votes.
The press identified her as swinging the 3-to-2 vote for the ordinance, which was unpopular with some people in the community. She received threats as a result. "I learned that taking stands, even on the local level, is very hard," Praeger says.
"Barbara and I are friends, and we never took the gloves off in the race," Praeger says.
See PRAEGER. Page 2A.
New state payroll system delays pay for some KU staff
By Andrea Albright
Kansan staff writer
Steve Garrison, Leawood graduate student, was hired as a researcher in the department of special education this spring and was expecting his first paycheck June 14. But after two weeks and two bounced checks, he still hadn't been paid.
Garrison is one of many KU staff members who have been denied prompt payment of their salaries due to a state-mandated change in the University's payroll policy.
In Garrison's case, the payroll office had said the money would be in his account by June 20. The check didn't arrive until June 28. In the interim, Garrison's bank account fell so low that he couldn't afford to pay his bills.
"I bounced two checks to the utility company because the money was not in my account as promised," Garrison said. "I was forced to take out an endowment loan for a percentage of my paycheck."
In January 1996, the state adopted a policy to pay its employees every two weeks instead of monthly. The new system made pay periods consistent for the state's
hourly workers and regulated overtime payments to employees.
Jerry Magnuson, deputy director at the Kansas State House, said the policy change was necessary to comply with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
But the Comptroller's Office said the introduction of the new system at the University had not gone smoothly. The office said the University cut staff at the same time the state changed the policy, which increased payroll paperwork. The University also updated its computer system when it switched to the bi-monthly payment program.
"Statewide it was a very smooth implementation for such a large system." he said.
Comptroller Kathe Shinham said the computer system was capable of handling the increased paperwork but was not thoroughly tested because of a tight time frame. It was logical to introduce the new system with the new payment policy, she said.
"It's new technology," Shinham said. "We would have liked to have had more time, but you'd always like to have more time."
See Paychecks, Page 2A.
Provost search has its cost
By Spencer Duncan
Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas spent at least $11,000 in its search for a provost and ended up hiring someone who was already employed by the University.
The national search ended two weeks ago when Chancellor Robert Hemenway selected David Shulenburger, who had been KU's vice chancellor of academic affairs since 1993.
Jeffrey Weinberg, associate vice chancellor, released preliminary figures last week which show that the University spent $11,330.72 for advertising, travel expenses, meals and accommodations for provost finalists.
The greatest expense was advertising, which totaled $6,520.45.
Hemenway said the search was essential despite the costs.
candidates then you have to advertise, and most advertising costs are high. It is not something you can avoid."
"You want to get the most qualified person," he said. "The best way to do that is through a national search. If you appoint someone without doing a national search then you never know if you hired the right person."
The most expensive advertisements were placed in the Chronicle of Higher Education, costing the University $3,680.
Weinberg said, "Advertising is always the most expensive. If you want to have good
"That was an expensive place to advertise," said Kathryn Clark, a coordinator of University Relations. "But a lot of the people who we wanted to attract read the Chronicle. It was one of the places we knew it was important to advertise in."
The rest of the expenses were related to visits made by the fye finalists.
Four of the finalists made trips to the University from outside the state for interviews. The University spent $2,064.86 in travel expenses, $607.92 in hotel expenses, and another $2,047.49 in meals, the report said.
The $11,330.72 total does not include other expenses that may have been related to the search. Those figures have yet to be released.
The University could have spent much more, Clark said.
"I have seen searches that cost universities $75,000," she said. "Many universities hire an outside firm to do this, but we didn't which kept our costs low."