Jazz instructor tries for role of Armstrong in play See page 3
Satchmo McCurdy
SINCE 1889
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 1986, VOL. 96, NO. 128 (USPS 650-640)
Balmy
Details page 3.
KU faculty salaries fall below average
Staff writer
By Lori Polson
KU faculty members are below the norm when it comes to salaries.
A recent survey taken by the American Association of University Professors showed a nationwide average increase of about 6 percent in faculty salaries over last year, while KU faculty members received a 5 percent increase last year.
Although salaries at the University of Kansas did increase, Janet Riley, assistant to the vice chancellor for academic affairs, said yesterday that KU was not keeping up.
"This year we'll be lucky to get a 3 percent increase and we'll still fall further behind," she said.
The salaries of KU professors are not competitive on a national scale. Riley said,
Figures released in the April 2 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, said the nation-wide average salaries this year were $42,500 for full professors, $13,800 for associate professors, $26,240 for assistant professors and $20,350 for instructors.
But at KU, the average is $41,600 for full professors, $30,100 for associate professors, $27,100 for assistant professors and $18,200 for instructors.
Riley said faculty salaries were not determined on a base pay scale.
"We have no set salaries," she said. "Pay is based solely on merit."
based solely on merit.
Each academic department determines a
system of merit, she said. The three aspects considered are teaching, research and service. A faculty member should show a combination of the three, she said.
"They look at the quality, not the quantity of the three." Riley said.
"It depends upon the discipline they are in and the potency of the individual," he said.
Richard Mann, director for institutional research, information systems and personnel services, said the amount of pay a faculty member received depended upon what area he
Highly technical fields, like engineering and some forms of science, will pay more than other types of teaching, he said.
There s a demand for high technology now,
and it is paying more," Mann said.
Riley said the University was attempting to persuade the Kansas Legislature for higher faculty salaries.
On such issues as faculty salaries, the University proposes yearly increases to the Regents The Regents then forward recommendations from KU and the five other state universities to the Legislature.
"We make our case to the Board of Regents and the Legislature every year," she said.
On March 26, the Senate approved a 3 percent increase in faculty salaries plus a 3 percent increase in staff benefits.
The bill is waiting for approval from the House.
Hardware store stocks tradition
By Brian Whepley
Staff writer
Much of the hardware that Philip Ernst stocks no longer fits into the green drawers that run the length of his hardware store from floor to ceiling.
The doorknobs, hinges and other hardware are not getting larger. The problem is they now come packaged so that they can be bung on the pegs that Erst and Son, 826 Massachusetts St. does not have
Only an old-fashioned hardware store has to deal with such problems.
The hardware business has changed in the the last 30 years, but Ernst and Son has changed little.
Ernst and Son began as Kennedy and Ernst in 1905 and became Ernst and Son in 1925, said Ernst, the grandson of the original owner.
the worn wood floors in the building, which was built in 1833, and the ornate brass cash register Ernst's grandfather bought used in 1908 are still there.
Fishing poles hang from the ceiling, so does a solitary canoe in the back of the store. Used golfballs can be bought for 50 cents each. In the spring, lawnmowers come out west and fall into the shade of the front canopy.
"There's a trend toward bigger and bigger — one stop shopping," he said.
The problem is the customers that at one time supported more than five downtown hardware stores no longer are there.
Competition from big discount stores like Wal-Mart and Gibson's has hurt traditional hardware stores like his, Ernst said.
The same thing happened to the grocery business, he said, where shoppers used to go to the baker, butcher and grocery store. Now they go to the supermarket.
"All the neighborhoods had grocery stores." Ernst said.
One advantage smaller stores like Ernst and Son have over larger stores is they carry items the average store does not, said Bob Zimmerman, owner of Coastware. 1832 Massachusetts St.
"He knows where to get the hard-to-find items," Zimmerman said.
But stores like Coast-to-Coast, which belongs to a countryside buying group, have their advantages, he said. They have a much broader selection of goods, repair equipment they sell, deliver goods
and have lower prices because they buy in bulk.
Ernst said that although joining a buying group might lower prices on some goods, it would have a cost.
"I don't like to lose my personal identity," he said.
When a store joins a buying group, it often has to buy a certain quantity of an item, sometimes more than it needs, and there are hidden charges. Ernst said.
"It seems to me that they try to run your business." he said.
With his independence, he said,
"I can buy what I want from who I want."
The personal service his store provides is another advantage, Ernst said.
"There's still a certain number of people who want service and need service." he said.
Ernst stopped to serve a frequent customer who came in the front door holding a weed-trimmer in one hand and saying he couldn't figure out how to pull out more weed trimming line.
Ernst took the trimmer apart and then went to the front of the store to get a new trimmer to figure out how it's done. He then put it back together while the man put money on the counter. Ernst took the money and shoved it back into the man's shirt pocket.
Customers often come into his store and tell him what they're looking for even if they don't know the names of what they're looking for. If the store has it, Ernst or an employee climbs the rolling ladder attached to ceiling and looks in one of the numerous green drawers.
Many customers tell Ernst not to change the store because of the atmosphere.
Ernst said business had been slow but the store would survive if downtown Lawrence remained viable. Ridding the downtown of parking meters would make it a more attractive shopping area, he said.
Meanwhile, Ermist said he would continue to help a customer find what he wants even if it meant sending him to another store.
"A certain clientele come in and say this is a really old-fashioned hardware store," he said.
Ernst said of modernization,
"Well, I probably should, but nothing will fit if I do."
Putting everything within arms length of his customers would force him to reduce his stock because of a lack of floor space.
Philip Ernst, grandson of the original owner of Ernst and Son, 826 Massachusetts St. , stands among some of the items old-fashioned hardware store has to offer
Mark Mohler/KANSAN
Proposal to raise parking
By Juli Warren
Staff writer
Oread Neighborhood residents could get about 92 extra parking spaces as the result of a recent planning staff study.
Lawrence city commissioners decided yesterday afternoon at a study session to pursue the staff's idea of constructing extra parking spaces in alleys within the neighborhood.
Members of the planning checked the number of available parking spaces at various times for the study, and a commission requested in November.
Price Banks, city planning director, said he would meet with representatives of the association and then with city officials. He would come back to the commission office to cost of a pilot project for one block
Paula Naughtin, Oread Neighborhood Association coordinator, said the association was willing to meet with city officials to decide on a block for the pilot project.
"We're open to just about anything." she said.
David Gunter, city planner, said while he was checking available parking space, he noticed the potential for parking in the alleys.
Enforcing city codes for removing trash, abandoned vehicles and dilapidated structures, and then paving for parking could be done at a minimal cost to the property owner, said Guntert.
Naughtin said the association was willing to work with city officials to crack down on code enforcement.
The commission also decided to have the staff draw up an ordinance that may alleviate parking problems when apartment buildings are expanded.
Under the proposed ordinance, owners wanting to expand would have to meet parking requirements for the entire building.
The zoning ordinance now allows existing buildings to provide parking for only the addition when the expansion is not more than 50 percent of the floor.
Another possibility suggested by the study was to create a permit parking district for residents of the area in commissioners rejected idea.
That proposal was raised partly because of the worsening of the parking problem from KU traffic.
City Commissioner Howard Hill said that because of the transient population of the neighborhood, permits may not be a good solution.
According to a 1982 survey, 49 percent of the residents in the neighborhood are students and 39 percent of the houses are owner occupied. Naughtin said.
Banks said, "If we impose parking restrictions, we have a tendency to move the problem geographically rather than to solve the problem."
The staff surveyed eight university communities to determine their parking regulations.
Lawrence requires $1_{1/2}$ spaces per dwelling unit for apartments with two bedrooms or fewer. Two-and-a-half spaces are required per dwelling unit for those with three or more bedrooms.
"Lawrence's regulations appear to be either consistent, or in some cases more restrictive than the cities that were contacted," the study said.
Officers oppose threat to autonomy
Legislature asks for Union fund vote
By Barbara Shear Staff writer
How much autonomy the Student Senate will have in the future may become the issue if the Kansas Legislature calls for a referendum on the Kansas Union renovation.
Staff writer
As part of the minutes at its last meeting, the Senate Ways and Means committee called for a referendum on the Union renovation bill. The bill passed in the Senate and is expected to be voted on in the House this week.
A referendum would mean that the students would vote on whether the Union should be renovated. David Epstein and Amy Brown, student body president and vice president, said they thought that if the bill passed, it could jeopardize the student government's autonomy.
"Our job is to represent the students." Epstein said. "This is a
slap in the face for Senate. I think the state is overstepping its bounds."
However, State Sen. Frank Gaines, D-Augusta, said he thought a referendum was necessary considering the amount of money involved, and that it would not interfere with the powers of Student Senate.
"I think it is a healthy thing to call a referendum." Gaines said. "Since there would be a $5 increase in fees, we want to make sure the majority of students want it; if they think there is a justification for the renovation. It would not interfere with student government autonomy since the student government would be running the referendum."
However, State Sen. Wint Winter Jr., R-Lawrence, said he had some doubts about calling for a referendum, because he was not sure students would turn out to vote. He
also questioned how much autonomy student government would be left
"I'm not sure a referendum would say how students feel," Winter said. "It also raises a philosophical question in my mind. How much authority are we giving Student Senate? What universal issues might we overrule?"
"I think it is bad public policy to call a referendum," he said. "We don't do it up here on every issue. We should let the students govern themselves in the way they think is best until proven otherwise."
Although a referendum was called for in the minutes, Winter said, there is still confusion on whether the University would receive the bonds for the renovation if it did not have a referendum.
"We don't know the full facts."
Winter said. "It is still up in the air.
We need to sit down with David and
Amy and explain what happened in
the Student Senate."
When Student Senate voted on the Union renovation bill, Brady Stanton, Numemaker senator, tried to amend the bill to include a referendum. However, Senate voted against it.
Even if Senate did not have a referendum, Gaines said, the administration still could issue the bonds. However, he said if the bill passed with the referendum, he thought the administration and Senate would still call for a student vote.
"We would appreciate an election, but KU is authorized to issue revenue bonds," he said. "But if we asked for a referendum, I can't believe the chancellor would not do it."
Staff writer
By Leslie Hirschbach
Educators worry that bill will hurt retirement funds
The problem with the plan that has caused educational employees to fear for their futures is that the $7,000 lid includes any money they could stash away into individual retirement accounts to make up for the
One small clause, buried in the hundreds of pages of a proposed federal tax reform bill, has some KU professors and administrators concerned enough about their futures to take action.
The Tax Reform Act of 1985, which was passed in December by the U.S. House of Representatives, would reduce the amount of money educational employees could put into 403(b) retirement accounts from 600 to 300. Most KU employees have the 403(b), or tax-deferred annuity plan.
difference.
difference. Under the tax-deferred annuity plan employees contribute 5 percent of their yearly salary to their retirement plan and the state contributes 6 percent.
In response to the bill, which now needs Senate approval, University Senate Executive Committee and KU administrators wrote a letter earlier demanding that the committee urge Bob Dole and Nancy Kassbeau urging them to vote against it.
Mel Dubnick, a member of SenEx who has expressed concern about the bill at SenEx meetings, said Sunday that if the Senate approved the House's version of the bill, professors and other educators would lose one of the few privileges they had to bolster their incomes.
See RETIRE, p. 5, col. 1
Educational employees have a