SPORTS
Kansas golfer Slade Adams has taken his Big Eight championship in stride. Page 1B
CAMPUS
Students marched on Jayhawk Boulevard last night to protest racism. Page 3A
SUNNY High 60° Low 44° Weather: Page 2A.
2240
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.104,NO.146
FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1995
ADVERTISING 364-4358
(USPS 650-640)
Tonkovich sues Regents, KU
NEWS 8644810
By Robert Allen Kansan staff writer
A former KU law professor is suing the University of Kansas for violating his civil rights.
Emil Tonkovich, former tenured professor of law, is the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court by Landmark Legal Foundation, a law group based in Kansas City, Mo. The lawsuit asserts that Tonkovich's rights to due process of law, free speech and association and equal protection of the laws were violated.
Tonkovich declined to be interviewed. Mark Bredemeier, the foundation's general counsel for Tonkovich, said yesterday that the foundation had "filed a
lawsuit on behalf of Emil Tonkovich ... against the Kansas Board of Regents, individual members of the Board of Regents, the University of Kansas and a number of past and present Kansas administrators."
Thirty-two individuals were named as defendants, including Chancellor Del Shankel; former chancellor Gene Budig; David Shulenburger, vice chancellor for academic affairs; Dr. Brinkman, former vice chancellor; and Robert Jerry, former dean of law.
Tonkovich is seeking reinstatement of his position as law professor, actual and punitive damages under each of the counts in the lawsuit and a declaration that the University's actions were unlawful and unconstitutional. Damages
"As Landmark looks at the kinds of litigation that we are involved in all around the United States of America, we see these issues of political correctness cropping up all the time," Bredemeier said. "Because he was an outspoken conservative, he got on the wrong side of some people on this campus."
sought in the lawsuit total $17.75 million.
In August 1991, law student Tamnee McVey accused Tonkovich of pressuring her to perform oral sex on him during the summer of 1988. Tonkovich was fired in July 1993 for violating the moral turpitude clause of the University Faculty Code of Conduct. Tonkovich filed an appeal to the Regents, who in September 1994 unanimously decided to uphold his dismissal.
"I am confident that a court will find that the University acted properly," Shankel said.
"A panel of his peers found that Mr. Tonkovich violated the faculty code of conduct," Shankel said. "The Kansas Board of Regents upheld the decision. Throughout the process, Mr. Tonkovich's procedural rights were protected. The decision was consistent with the standards of conduct and professionalism the University requires of its faculty.
University administrators yesterday would not comment on the lawsuit. Chancellor Shankel issued a brief statement.
Emil Tonkovich's lawsuit against the University of Kansas and the Board of Regents lists seven counts alleging violations of his civil rights.
$2 million for punitive damages, $1 million for actual
damages, $500,000 for mental english
Violation of freedom of speech and association $2 million for punitive damages, $1 million for actual damages, $600,000 for mental anguish
$2 million for punitive damages, $1 million for actual damages, $500,000 for mental anguish
$1 million for actual damages, reinstatement of former position
Breach of implied duty of good faith dealing $1 million for actual damages, reinstatement of former position
- Intentional interference with business relationships $2 million for punitive damages, $1 million for actual damages
$2 million for punitive damages, $250,000 for mental
engish
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
College arenas, once thought of as basketball churches may be turning into money-making billboards. Has...
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Emerson Hazlett has been going to Kansas Jayhawk basketball games since Clyde Lovellette played in Hoch Auditorium.
In 1955, when the Jayhawks moved to Allen Field House, Hazlett followed them faithfully, watching Kansas add to its legend in the new arena.
But during the last four years, the old "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" feeling began to change for Hazlett. Advertisements sprang up at courside and began to glow above the exit ramps. They've become a part of a Kansas tradition that doesn't please Hazlett.
"I feel like I have walked into the Madison Avenue advertising shop," says Hazlett, emeritus director of the KU Center for Economic Education. "I think it takes a lot of the atmosphere away from the game, and each time I go, I'm kind of offended by it."
with college basketball's growth in popularity, the opportunity also has grown for athletic departments to make money by selling advertising in basketball arenas. Kansas is one of a number of universities that have sold billboards inside the once-hallowed halls of its arenas. Two other tradition-rich basketball programs, Indiana and North Carolina, say they won't sell advertising.
The financial realities of college sports mean many athletic departments across the nation have been forced to put economics before tradition. Although that may upset Kansas purists, athletic officials say the commercial onslaught is here to stay.
WHY ADVERTISING?
The Kansas Athletic Department says there's a reason advertising has proliferated.
The department provides funding for 18 sports and 237 scholarships. All that costs money. And only two of the 18 make any profit at all: football and men's basketball.
one of the team.
Bob Frederick, Kansas athletic director, says that the entire issue of signs in the field house comes down to money. Kansas
So the department is forced to look elsewhere for sources of money. The glowing red, yellow and green billboards are one of them.
See ADVERTISING, Page 6A.
State says no to GTA raises
By Virginia Marghelm Kansan staff writer
The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved a motion last week to keep GTAs' salaries at their current level, and the House followed suit yesterday.
The wrap-up of this year's state legislative session is going well for the University of Kansas -but not so well for graduate teaching assistants.
Normally, GTAs would receive the same percent for raises that faculty would. However, legislators argued that faculty needed the raise more than the GTAs.
Part of the legislative support for the motion could have been generated after KU GTAs recently formed a union. But anti-union sentiment did not play a significant role in the decision, said State Rep. Barbara Ballard D-Lawrence.
Ballard said that peer school salaries were the major reason for the motion. GTA salaries at KU are at 101 percent of their peers; faculty salaries are at 89 percent.
But Banaird, who opposed the motion, said that the logic of the legislators who supported the motion was flawed. The same level of service is expected from GTAs and faculty, so they should receive the same raises. Ballard said.
"I don't think you can decide who gets raises and who does not." she said.
By a 65-55 vote, the House passed the motion to retain GTAs' current salaries.
"It looks like it's in very good shape," Findley said.
Faculty pay raises, though, look more promising for KU. The 3.5 percent requested for faculty pay raises at Regents institutions likely will pass, said State Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence.
It looks like it isn't very good shape. A faulty Final action will not be taken on faculty pay raises until the Legislature votes on the omnibus appropriation bill, in which the raise issue is included. The omnibus bill is being debated in the Legislature, but Findley said there were several contentious issues that could prolong debate on the bill for several days.
Another piece of good news for KU was the passage of a lottery bill that would generate revenue for repairing campus buildings. The bill, which allows slot machines at race tracks, passed the House Wednesday.
The Regents institutions would receive 14 percent of the revenue that the slot machines generated.
Warren Corman, director of facilities for the Board of Regents, said earlier this month that the bill could generate about $10 million to $15 million for the universities. The money would be used to help maintain campus buildings. Although the Regents have identified a $288 million need during the next five years for buildings, the slot machine money would be helpful. Corman said.
Findley said that the lottery bill did not pass the House easily.
"It took about four or five different votes," Findley said.
But the bill finally passed the House and was debated in a Senate committee yesterday.
Matthew Sweet brings his 100 percent of pure fun to the University of Kansas this weekend for Day on the Hill.
Page 8A
Haworth bomb threat turns out to be 'sick joke'
Oklahoma City bombing inspires strong reaction to note in Fraser Hall
By Teresa Veazey Kansan staff writer
Haworth Hall is still in one piece.
A bomb threat at the building proved bogus yesterday after the 1:46 p.m. detonation time had passed and nothing happened.
In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, KU police were on heightened alert.
The Kansas Highway Patrol bomb dog was called in after a tool box of unknown origin was discovered on the fourth floor, said Sgt. Rose Rozmiarek of the KU police. No explosives were found.
Because of the heightened awareness
of the situation in Oklahoma, we went ahead and called for the bomb dog," she said. "He was done with his search at least an hour before detonation time."
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, a student found a note about the threat in a room in Fraser Hall. The student, who has a class in Fraser, reported the threat to KU police Wednesday evening. The message said the bomb would explode in the east end of Haworth Hall, according to the report.
The east side of Haworth is connected to Dole Human Development Center, which houses the child development center.
Ali Shokri, Lawrence graduate student, went for lunch during the time when the bomb was scheduled to explode. He said he thought the threat was phony but left the building anyway, in part, because of the recent federal building bombing in Oklahoma City.
"I think it's a sick joke, especially since
the bombing in Oklahoma City." Shokri said. "If it could happen there, there's no reason it couldn't be bombed."
reason it couldn't happen here."
classroom, go outside on the lawn or cancel class, she said.
Alliss said staving
Yesterday morning, KU police went to Haworth to notify every office and professor about the threat, said Officer Cindy Alliss of the KU police department.
"Once you've notified them, it's their decision," she said of whether to leave the building.
Alliss said staying in the building was an option because people were not required to evacuate. Professors usually move to another
KU police set up a command post behind the computer center about noon yesterday, Rozmiareaid.
"We have a vehicle which is our mobile command post," she said. "It provides radio communication and gives us an area to work out of."
As the time for the bomb to go off drew nearer, Haworth was fairly empty except
for a handful of people walking down the halls. By the time 1:46 p.m. rolled around, the threat appeared to be a hoax.