Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1986
Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan
3
News Briefs
Couple found shot in Shawnee home
SHAWNEE — A Shawnee couple, both KU alumni, were found shot and killed in the bedroom of their home yesterday.
The bodies of Ronald Brown, 25, and his wife, Ramona, 23, were discovered by a relative at 3:42 p.m., said Shawnee Police Major Chester Hall, command officer handling the case.
Our autopsy was performed last night, but police released no details.
Court date delayed
A new court date has not yet been set in the appeal of a Nov. 6 decision on Ronald M. Smith, Overland Park junior, who was arrested in April for unlawful consumption of alcohol by a minor.
Smith's appeal originally was scheduled for Friday.
Smith was sued by Harrison "Ace" Johnson Jr., owner of the Sanctuary, 1401 W. Seventh St. Johnson sued for $500, the amount he had to pay to the Alcohol Beverage Control Division when Smith was arrested at Johnson's private club in April. The judgment against Smith was for $510, including $10 for court costs.
James E. Rumsey, attorney for Smith, requested a new court date in mid-February because the original date was not cleared with him.
Woman assaulted
A 27-year-old KU employee was threatened and assaulted Saturday evening by her ex boyfriend, Lawrence police said yesterday
The man forced his way into the victim's apartment in the 500 block of Frontier Road, beat the victim and then told her he would kill her if she called the police. Police said this was not the first time the man had assaulted the victim.
The victim did not receive medical attention and did not press charges against the man, police said.
Exemption exams set
The Oral Communications Exemption Examinations are scheduled for Feb. 12 and 13. Students who pass this exam are exempt from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences oral communication requirement.
Students interested in taking the exemption exam should sign up by Feb. 7 at the communications studies department, 3090 Wescoe Hall.
The exam will include a 6 to 7 minute informative speech on a topic of the student's choice and a 2 to 3 minute impromptu speech. Three instructors from the communication studies department will evaluate the speeches.
Annual information and an exam schedule are available by calling 864-3633.
Weather
Today will once again be cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain and a high temperature in the mid-to upper-40s. Northwest winds will blow at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight will be cloudy with a low temperature in the low 30s. Tomorrow should be partly cloudy with a high temperature in the low 40s.
From staff and wire reports
General wins support of her college cadets
By Sandra Crider
KU Army ROTC cadets were apparently at ease when their regional commander came to inspect the University's program yesterday.
Staff writer
The cadets listened to the general's comments and later enthusiastically emphasized the general's uniqueness.
"She's not what you think a typical general would be," said Tom Cummings. Lawrence senior.
Brig. Gen. Myrna Williams is not only unusual for being the first woman to command an ROTC region, but also for the positive attitude that is present in everything she says, the cadets said.
From her headquarters in Fort Riley, Williamson commands college and high school ROTC programs in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Darrell Beck, Newport News, Va., sophomore, said, "I think she is a super woman. I like her high motivation and her attitude toward success."
Williamsia said she had many opportunities to succeed or fail and she tried to make the most of her chances.
In her 25 years in the Army, Williamson has seen many successes. She has served as a basic training battalion commander at the U.S. Army Military Police School in Fort McClellan, Ala.
She has held a position at the Pentagon as Chief of the Management Support Office, which is part of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition.
Williamson recently was appointed the U.S. delegate to the Committee on Women in the NATO Forces. She will attend a meeting of the committee in The Hague, Netherlands, in May.
She has run into problems along the way, but Williamson's determination will not allow them to get in the way, she said.
Suzy Mast/KANSAN
Brig. Gen. Myrna H. Williamson tells cadets the importance of a positive attitude to overcome obstacles. Williamson commander of the regional Army ROTC, was at KU yesterday to inspect the local unit.
"You can spend so much time on negative vibrations that you'll be just as ineffective as if the enemy had come in and taken over," she said.
She advised cadets who might be facing obstacles because they were minorities to do the same.
Clinton McCrae, Topeka senior, said, "I feel personally she stands as an example for a lot of women.
"Ignore the little people and get on with the mission," Williams said. "If you take care of your mission, the Army will take care of you."
"She went through a lot to get where she is."
Williamson said she hoped she presented a good role model and an image of an approachable leader to her cadets.
Tom Trossen, Overland Park senior, said that last summer he spent 49 days at Fort Riley, where Williamson is in charge of the cadet
.
training camp. He said he saw the general every day he was there.
"She takes care of the soldiers and makes sure that everyone is doing well," Trossen said. "I think that's the finest quality a leader can have."
McCrae said he also had met Williamson while at training camp last summer.
"The first time I saw her I was lying in the mud," McCrae said. "I looked up and saw she was a woman and a general, so I got up and stood at attention.
"She asked, 'Are you having fun, cadet?' I said, 'Yes, Ma'am.'"
To Williamson, it's all part of the territory.
Committee invites comment
South Africa talks planned
By Lori Polson
Staff writer
Stan Writer
The University Senate Human Relations Committee is sponsoring a series of public hearings next week about KU's involvement in South Africa, Caryl Smith, dean of student life and member of the committee, said yesterday.
"The committee would like to get a comprehensive look at how the University community stands on this issue." she said.
The hearings will be from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 12 and 13 in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union.
The committee is looking for information on activities relating to South Africa on campus and public opinions on divestment, said Janet Jackson, secretary at the college honors program, who is coordinating the hearings.
"The hearings will be set up so any individual wanting a chance to speak will be able to do so if they make an appointment," she said.
The South African government has a policy of apar-
theid, a form of racial discrimination.
Todd Seymour, president of the Kansas University Endowment Association, said the Endowment Association would send information to the hearings this year, but would not send a representative.
"At this time, we do not plan to have anyone from the Endowment Association speak," he said.
In the past year, some students and faculty have protested the Endowment Association's ties to companies that do business in South Africa.
Any organization or individual may participate in the hearings by making an appointment with Jackson at 864-4225.
A person or group can schedule from five to 20 minutes to speak, Jackson said. After the maximum time allowed, the committee will ask questions to that person or group for up to ten minutes, she said.
Jackson said she has had some people call to schedule speaking time but there still were several time slots available.
Vernell Spearman, director of minority affairs and member of the committee, said the purpose of the hearings was to gather information and public opinions about the issue of South Africa.
After the hearings, she said, the committee will meet and make a recommendation to the University Council. The recommendation will be the committee's opinion on how the University should deal with South Africa issues raised on campus, she said. The recommendation is not binding, she said.
"I'm sure that based on the information gathered from the hearings, we will be making a recommendation," she said.
Smith said the issue of South Africa had been an continuing concern and interest to the University. Last April, a similar forum was conducted, she said.
After the forum last year, the University Council presented a resolution asking the Endowment Association to divest.
Mild winter eases budget woes
Staff writer
By Russell Gray
Staff writer
The sight of a facilities operations employee working in near blizzard conditions to make sidewalks and streets safe for students has become a distant memory.
Memories of high, often overbudget costs of dealing with the weather also have faded as Kansas experiences an unusually mild winter.
According to the National Weather Service in Topeka, 25.5 inches of snow had fallen by this date in the winter of 1983-84 and 26.0 inches in 1984-85, but only 9.1 inches have fallen this winter.
Bob Porter, associate director for plant maintenance, said that if Lawrence wasn't hit with heavy snow in March or April, his department would save about half to two-thirds of what it would spend for snow removal in a normal winter.
The department will be able to spend money it saves from snow removal in other maintenance areas such as repairing streets, laying
asphalt or cutting curbs for the handicapped. Porter said.
Porter said he thought the University had saved about 30 percent in heating costs. Although the heat hasn't been turned down, heat blowers haven't run as much, which saves electricity.
Last year, snow removal cost the department $63,696. Porter said. No figures are available yet, but he said his department was below normal cost for this time of the season.
The heat is scheduled to be turned off March 15; And probably won't be turned off any earlier, he said.
Donald Kearns, director of parking services, said that he thought parking services had saved money but that he didn't know how much. Kearns, however, isn't optimistic about the rest of the winter.
"Of course, winter's not over," he said.
"I think it's going to snow some more," he said. "We've been lucky."
but Duane Ogle, president and general manager, hasn't put the savings in his ledger yet.
Parking services pays facilities operations to remove the snow from parking lots, Kearns said.
The mild winter also may have saved the Business Bus Co. money.
The bus company saves money on maintenance during mild weather, although the number of cash fares goes down slightly, Ogle said. The bus company won't know how much it has saved until the end of the season.
Under a contract between Student Senate and the bus company, the company receives a set amount, rain or shine, for campus services. When the weather is bad, the company spends more money.
Porter said, "I don't remember a winter this mild. I'll take it if we can get it."
Porter may not get it for much longer, according to Phil Diseler, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, who echoed Ogle and Kearns' pessimism.
Lawrence still may be blanketed with up to 15 more inches of snow by the end of the season in March.
Computerized thermostat to cut Union's utility bills
By a Kansan reporter
Efforts to install a computerized energy management system at the Kansas Union were postponed yesterday because of weather but should begin within a few days, Pat Beard, head of maintenance at the Union, said.
Jim Long, director of the Union,
said the system, which will cost about $85,000, was the result of an energy management study conducted about two years ago. The installation project should take about six months, he said.
The system is expected to chop 20 percent to 25 percent off the Union's annual energy costs, he said. The
Union spends about $860,000 a year for heat and electricity, he said.
The new system will automatically control the temperature in the Union, he said. There are plans for the system to control the lighting also, but initially the system will control only the heat.
- The system now in place is manually controlled, Long said. Workers must check thermostats throughout the building to control the heating system.
Beard said the new system would be installed by the Honeywell Corp. Representatives of Honeywell will first examine the building to determine where the computer mechanisms will be located before any work begins, he said.
Staff writer
By Peggy Kramer
P.K. Popper up for sale before first anniversary
Tomorrow, P.K. Popper, 6 E.Ninth St., will celebrate its first anniversary. To customers' surprise, the first P.K. Popper for sale ads were published on Friday.
Kelly Parks, co-owner of the business which sells flavored popcorn and frozen yogurt, said yesterday that the decision to sell was the best thing for her and her partner. Parks, 21, is an occupational therapy major and will soon do an internship, possibly on either the East or West coast.
"Beth and I work as a team and I didn't want to leave her to run the business alone." Parks said Sunday.
Parks and Beth Kasher, both Omaha juniors, had the idea of owning their own popcorn business during Christmas break of 1984. After generating ideas from a popular popcorn shop in Omaha and researching the popcorn market, the students wanted to try on their own.
Parks said it was hard to tell when the shop would be sold but she already had heard from people who wanted to continue the business.
"I would love it if students bought it. Our school work didn't suffer and we learned to plan our time well," Parks said.
Meg Huerter, Omaha junior and an employee of P.K. Popper, said, "It
Huerter has worked at P.K. Popper since September and said some people came in every day to buy a bag of popcorn.
personally makes me very sad that the business is up for sale."
Janelle White, Independence graduate student, said she bought popcorn from the store at least once a week.
"I have bought five of the popcorn canisters and have received three. They are good personalized gifts and P.K. Popper will mail them for you," White said.
In May, P.K. Popper added frozen yogurt to complement the sale of popcorn. P.K. Popper offers vanilla and chocolate frozen yogurt and nine toppings.
Parks said though the yogurt was a good addition, people still favored the different flavors of popcorn, especially caramel. In addition to caramel, there are four other choices: plain, cinnamon, cheese and sour cream.
"I have never had a business class, but I have learned a lot about inventory, taxes and marketing," said Parks. "The business has been a great thing, anyone can do it."
Parks said she handled most of the public relations and Kasher took care of the books.
the Sanctuary reciprocal with over 300 clubs B
REPUBLICANS!
KU COLLEGE REPUBLICANS FIRST MEETING OF SPRING SEMESTER
TUES. FEB. 4
7:00 Jayhawk Room
- Nominations for offices
- New members welcome
- Social event follows
Prof. Roy Laird-Faculty Advisor