Slip-sliding away
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Details, page 2
Tuesday
February 17, 1987
Vol. 97, No. 97
(USPS 650-640)
College entrance may get tougher
Staff writer
By CHRISTOPHER HINES
Kansas high school graduates may lose their right to attend state universities if a Kansas House bill is approved by the state Legislature.
A bill pending in the House Education Committee would leave admission of a student to a state-supported university to the discretion of the Kansas Board of Regents.
Some legislators say the bill would save money and improve the quality of education at state-supported universities in Kansas, but others say Kansas should preserve its tradition of open universities.
"I think it would send a message out to those high school students who want to go to college that they better quit kidding around and get serious." Emporia, a member of the education committee who helped draft the bill.
But State Rep. John Solbach, D-Lawrence, said, "If you reduce the potential constituencies for state universities, you reduce funding, and then you reduce the quality of education."
At present, students who graduate from accredited Kansas high schools are entitled by state law to attend the state university of their choice. This policy is commonly known as open admission.
The bill, if approved by the state Senate and House, would allow the Regents to require Kansas high school students to pass a curriculum of courses before being admitted to a state university. At present, students are only required to have a high school diploma.
State Rep. Denise Apt, R-Iola, chairman of the education committee, said lax admission requirements have forced state universities to provide an increasing number of remedial courses.
Students often enter college with little knowledge of math, science or
history, she said, requiring universal
shutdown. "Sometimes they should
have learned in both schools."
"American students are less educated than students in many other western countries," she said. When we have 50 percent of our college freshmen dropping out after the first semester, there is a problem."
The Regents have long recommended that Kansas high schools teach certain courses to better prepare students for college, but under the new bill, these recommendations could turn into requirements.
Over a four-year period, the bill would phase in the Regents recommendations. Starting in 1991, Kansas high school students would have to successfully complete four classes in English and three classes each in math social studies and natural science be admitted to a Regents university.
By 1993, students would also have to complete two classes in a foreign language.
The bill would delay the foreign language requirement to allow high schools time to develop now lacking foreign language programs. Lowther said
Some legislators say that instead of eliminating open access to state universities, the state should provide students with access to education at the high school level.
Solbach said, "I think if we make students more aware in high school what's expected of them and help them achieve it, we will have fewer problems in college."
Solbach said that people should be given the opportunity to change and develop in a free society and not be restrained by something that they were incapable of doing when they were young.
"Some people develop emotionally and intellectually at different rates," he said. "Many return to school later in life and become very successful."
Alcohol-abuse class offers self-help tips
Staff writer
By CAROLINE REDDICK
Some students enrolled in the Dimensions of Social Drinking and Alcoholism course this semester are trying an unusual approach to control their drinking.
As part of a final project in the class, the students are using a method designed to help problem drinkers moderate their alcohol consumption. Most alcohol-abuse programs insist on abstinence.
"I don't think I'm an alcoholic, but the potential is there," said Anne Slattery, Topeka junior, who used the manual because she was concerned about her drinking. "I've had friends tell me that I drink too much. I don't go out every night or weekend, but when I do, I drink a lot."
"I'm trying to find the answer to why I sometimes drink to total intoxication," he said. "You can abuse alcohol without even knowing it and get into a regular pattern. Alcoholism sort of creeps up on a lot of people."
Larry Buettner, Clearwater, Fla.
senior, said he used the method because he realized that he overinfluenced two or three times a week.
The self-help manual, "So You Want to Cut Down Your Drinking," was developed in Britain by Ian Robertson and Nick Heather.
The manual says it is not intended for alcoholics, people who are physically addicted to alcohol, but for problem drinkers who drink too
See ALCOHOL, p. 6, col. 3
Scott Carpenter/Special to the Kansan
Sunday evening's snow failed to dampen the spirits of Justin Monney. 5. He was sledding yesterday behind Spooner Hall with his friends
Ahhhhhhh!
Proposal would shorten add period
By BENJAMIN HALL
Staff writer
KU students may have only half as much time to add classes next semester.
Brower R. Burchill, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said yesterday he had submitted a plan to Del Brinkman, vice chancellor for academic affairs, that called for a two-week add period instead of four weeks.
Robert Lineberry, dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said. "It's a fantastic idea. The idea behind it is purely academic. It's silly to let people enroll in classes a fifth of the way or a quarter of the way through the semester."
Burchill sent a letter to the deans of the various schools that said, "There seems to be a consensus emerging that children should be reduced to two weeks."
But Mel Dubnick, chairman of the University Senate Executive Committee, said in a letter to Burchill that the change would be premature.
"While we understand that you have the prerogative to do this, members of SenEx were concerned that the implications of this policy change have not been carefully studied. Therefore, SenEx would strongly suggest that this policy not be implemented at this time."
A University-wide change would require the University Council to change the Faculty Senate Rules and Regulations. But each of the University's schools has the right to change its own add policy.
Burchill's letter encouraged the school deans to adopt a two-week add period for the fall semester. Some schools and departments already
See ADD. p. 6, col. 5
Chernobyl deaths to rise, specialist says
By ROGER COREY
OVERLAND PARK — About 75,000 people are expected to die over the next 50 years because of burns from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Robert Gale, a UCLA specialist in bone marrow transplants, said yesterday.
Gale recently returned from a visit to the Soviet Union where he performed bone marrow transplants on 13 victims of the Chernobyl disaster. He spoke to press and students at Shawne Mission South High School in Overland Park.
He said only two of the 13 victims who received bone marrow transplants had survived.
Gale's visit was sponsored by the Kansas City March of Dimes and Science Pioneers. He augmented his talk with a slide show about the function of bone marrow in the body.
"Try not to get lost in the medical terms. Gale urged the audience that it is important is how we use modern technology to transplant to help radiation victims."
Despite icy road conditions and the cancellation of classes at Shawnee
auditorium where Gale spoke was recorded.
The Chernobyl disaster occurred on April 26, 1986, when a reactor was damaged and sent a cloud of radiation into the air. The radiation killed 31 people and forced the evacuation of 135,000 inhabitants in the Chernobyl area.
Gale said that the countryside around Chernobyl was restricted and that only plant workers were allowed into the area.
Gale said that 29 people have died from radiation poisoning since the accident.
He also said that about 300 babies had now been born to women exposed to radiation at Chemnobly and that 39 of the babies were expected to be mentally retarded
That is 50 percent higher than the 26 cases expected in a population of 300 babies not exposed to radiation during the fetal period. Gale said.
Gale said that none of the 300 infants born since the disaster had shown signs of abnormalities, but that was not unusual. He said it might take several years for the mental retardation to become apparent.
Long-awaited lights will be installed soon
Location of new lights
Source: Architectural Services
By KJERSTI MOEN
Staff writer
Campus nights will be brighter when new lights illuminate parts of Jayhawk Boulevard and Naismith Drive.
Groundbreaking for the first new light pole will start as soon as rain stops and the ground dries, said Miel Huxtable Jr., consultant to Huxtable and Associates, 815 E. 12th St., which will do the construction.
The lights will line the east side of Naismith Drive from the 15th Street intersection to the Jayhawk Bookstore; the south side of Crescent Drive from the bookstore to the Chi Omega Fountain; both sides of Jayhawkward from the fountain to the Sunflower intersection; and the east side of West Campus Drive from the fountain to the Memorial Drive intersection.
After two years of planning, financing and completing pounds of paperwork, the campus illumination program may finally see the light of day this week.
The construction may take about six weeks, he said. The work will take a year time because the new lamps require plumbing and circuit, which first must be installed.
The lights will illuminate sidewalks to improve pedestrians' safety at night. Ronald N. Helms, professor of architectural engineering, conducted a study in 1985 that established a correlation between poor lighting and a high crime rate on campus. The study recommended using lights that spread light effectively and do not use a lot of energy.
Greg Wade, a University landscape architect who took part in planning the project, said the new lights filled Helms' recommendations. The 24 additional lights, each with 400-watt power, will double the number of lights already in the area.
The lights have a modern "shoe-box" design and an advanced optical reflector system that distributes evenly over wide areas. Wade said.
Allen Wiechert, director of facilities planning, said the 24 new lights represented the first part of a larger effort to illuminate campus. Other locations that need light include areas around Snow Hall, the planned science library and the planned human development center. But each of these steps will require separate planning and financing, he said.
The financing for this first lighting project came from three sources, said Jim Modig, associate director of facilities planning. The total cost is $100,655. Student Senate allocated the funding for Gene A Budig released the same amount, and the remaining $50,655 came from a facilities planning
repairs and improvement fund, Modig said.
"The real story behind this is, 'why
it take so long to get light on"
this.
David Epstein, the 1985-86 student body president who released the Student Senate money, said he was pleased that the project was finally starting. But he is not pleased by the delays the project went through since the idea was first conceived.
"We've been really anxious to get this project going," he said. "We've been checking in from time to time to find out where the hold-up was."
Since the bid from Huxtable and Associates was accepted Oct. 27, 16 weeks have passed. Eight weeks is the normal time for this kind of project, Modig said. But holidays and the 3.8 percent cut in the University's budget accounted for some of the lost time, he said.
Modig said construction was scheduled to begin in December. But the entire project has gone through a long and complicated process, he said. Several University and state agencies have been involved in a standard procedure for construction projects, he said.
Now that the paperwork is done, the final construction phase is the only hurdle before the 24 new lamps show campus in a new light.
INSIDE
Teaming up
Freshman triple and long jumps Yolanda Taylor and Cyntha Rhodes, both from Texas, heard about each other during their high school days, but met only after they ended up as teammates on the women's track team. See story page 7.
Soaring high
Overcrowded classes and enrollment-limiting policies may result from increases in students and decreases in financing for most professional schools. See story page 3.