Tuesday January 19, 1988
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Vol. 98, No. 77 (USPS 650-640)
Enrollment jumps again
By Ric Brack
Kansan staff writer
Spring semester first-day enrollment is up 683 students from the same time last year, University officials said Friday.
"I'm not rejoicing over these numbers," said Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor. "We have been trying to control them to keep it within manageable bounds."
Total University enrollment is 25,246, which reflects an increase of 932 students at the Lawrence campus and a decline of 249 students at the College of Health Sciences and in off-campus courses. Total enrollment in spring 1987 was 24,563.
Enrollment on the Lawrence campus is 21,797, compared with 20,865 last year. Off-campus courses reported 53 fewer students - 1,290 compared with 1,343 last year.
The Med Center reported an opening enrollment of 2,159 students, compared with 2.355 last year.
But first-day enrollment statistics provide only a clue to what 20th-day enrollment will be. Bruce Lindvall, director of admissions, said the final figures could be as much as 20 percent higher than first-day figures. The final figures will be compiled Feb. 10.
"We continue to increase," said W. Wes Williams, dean of educational services. "We're getting pretty close to peak."
KU enrollment has been increasing for the past four years. Although the rate of increase has slowed, Ramaley and other administrators continue to look for solutions to problems caused by recent growth.
Long lines at enrollment, closed sections and crowded classes prompted the creation of an enrollment planning committee last spring. The committee recommended imposing admission application deadlines and stricter out-of-state requirements.
Ramaley said she reactivated that committee in December to look for solutions to problems caused by the growing enrollment.
Linda Monson, assistant director of admissions, said the new application deadlines were announced too late last year for many students and high school counselors to know about them. Consequently, enforcement then wasn't as strict as it will be this year, so it's hard to assess what
M,
We continue to increase.
We continue to increase. We're getting pretty close to peak.'
- W. Wes Williams dean of educational services
effect the measure will ultimately have.
Applicants from Kansas high schools who meet an April 1 application deadline are automatically accepted.
Entering freshmen from out-of-state must apply for fall admission by Feb. 1. They also must have a 3.0 grade point average, or a 2.0 GPA with a score of 23 or better on the ACT, or a 2.0 GPA and successful completion of the Kansas Board of Regents recommended courses.
Monson said it was possible that University officials would eventually impose ceilings on the numbers of students admitted to KU.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it came down to them giving us a number," Monson said.
Some consider the Regents' proposed qualified admissions plan to another solution. Under that plan, Regents schools would operate under rules similar to those implemented last fall for KU's out-of-state applicants.
The measure, which must be approved by the Legislature, was designed to confront the issues of uncontrolled enrollment and high school graduates who are unprepared for college. If passed, the policy would take effect in 1992.
Ramaley said she didn't think qualified admissions would be a quick fix for KU's enrollment woes.
But she said that she supported qualified admissions and that she thought the measure had a 50-50 chance of passing.
Williams said he doubted the Legislature would approve the proposed changes in admissions policies.
changes in admission.
"People are coming and not finding everything they hoped to find."
Williams said. He said he hoped enrollment would decrease without changing admission policies.
Liz Tolbert, president of Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas, and James Mullins of the Alliance of Citizens for Traditional Values answer calls on a proposed amendment to the Lawrence civil rights ordinance on KJHK-FM's Jay-Talk 91.
KJHK airs gay rights discussion
By Joel Zeff
Kansan staff writer
On the day reserved for remembering Martin Luther King Jr. and his battles, victories and defeats, Liz Tolbert nervously tightened
See related story p. 5.
her grip on her papers, took a breath, and began to fight a battle of her own.
"There is a lot of empirical evidence that homophobia, which is the irrational fear of gay and lesbian people, is ever present in American society," Tolbert said.
"Yes, this is a problem, and yes, we need to change this." she said.
The ordinance now prohibits discrimination on race, sex, color, nationality, age, religion, ancestry or handicap.
Tolbert, president of Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas, was a guest on last night's KJHK broadcast of Jay-Talk 91. Tolbert and Jim Mullins, president of the Alliance of Citizens for Traditional Values, debated the city proposal to amend the Lawrence civil rights ordinance to prohibit discrimination against homosexuals.
debate. This is the last opportunity for public debate on the issue," said Russ Pitack, host of the show.
sarahs.
Prairie said last night's show received more callers than any other broadcast. Topics of caller's questions ranged from AIDS to what other cities has an ordinance similar to the Lawrence proposal.
"We're talking about basic rights." Mullins said. "Should moral characteristics decide who is going to teach your children? Should it decide who you're going to employ? I think it should."
Mullins said that people should not discriminate against
homosexuals, but that the law was not needed because there was no proof that discrimination against homosexuals existed in Lawrence.
"Homosexuality is a destructive lifestyle. They need a lot of help." Mullins said. "The Bible says in many, many places that homosexuality is a sin."
Tolbert, however, said the ordinance was a civil rights issue, not an issue of a special-interest group.
"Enough is enough," she said after the broadcast. "We are citizens too. We deserve the same rights that everybody else has."
Bill would pay student loans for teachers who stay in state
By Dayana Yochim
Kansan staff writer
Some education majors who go on to teach in Kansas would not have to pay back their student loans under a bill introduced in the Legislature last week.
week.
The bill, which was introduced by the legislative Educational Planning Committee on Jan. 11, would make the state pay for one-seventh of a student's loan for every year after graduation the student taught in Kansas.
However, the bill would not benefit all education majors. Only those who teach in "critically underserved fields" would be eligible for the loan program.
program.
State Rep. Jessie Branson, D-
Lawrence and a member of the
House Committee on Education, said
For example, if a teacher who received the loan under the proposed program were to stay in Kansas and teach for three years, then he would be required to repay four-sevenths of the loan.
the committee decided that the state Board of Education would determine what those fields were. Science and math often are considered areas where there is a high demand for teachers, Branson said.
She said that if passed, the bill would be an ideal program to attract potential teachers.
"The committee has been struggling for several years trying to legislate an incentive program for teachers. In my opinion, teachers aren't paid well enough to keep them
in the teaching profession," Branson said. "Education is the most important part of economic development, and we want to attract the best and the brightest."
Jerry Bailey, associate dean of education, said the bill would help improve the education of students in underserved areas.
add yet more "if the state wants warm bodies in classrooms, there are enough." Bailey said. "School improvement is the key to quality education. This bill would lead to the improvement of the
quality of education in some districts, and the quality of our school."
Branson said that the committee had not yet determined whether the state or the student would pay the interest on the loans. Overall, she said she supported the plan.
"In my opinion, it's a good bill. It is palatable, something to provide incentive to prospective teachers," she said.
But Branson said she was skeptica
Sarah Folsom, a Hays junior and an education major, said that if the bill passed, it would help her financially because she planned to start her teaching career in Kansas.
about the number of years the bill would require students to teach in the state in order to pay off their loans.
I probably wouldn't consider it if I had my heart set on teaching in another state." Folsom said of the loan program. "Seven years is a long time."
Hart revisits hometown Ottawa; speaks at school, chamber dinner
By Brenda Finnell
Kansan staff writer
OTTAWA — Even though Gary Hart was not scheduled to arrive at Ottawa Middle School until 5 p.m., Irene Davis and Alice Woodsum came early. By 3:45 p.m., they had found two seats in the school's multi-purpose room.
per pal. Hart, candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination and former Colorado senator, was in Ottawa to meet the public at the school and to speak at the Chamber of Commerce annual banquet at Ottawa University's Mowbray Union.
By 5:15, about 400 others had joined Davis and Woodsum, Ottawa residents, when Hart and his wife, Lee, arrived. The crowd included about 100 reporters and photographers.
Before passing through the crowd to shake hands, sign autographs and greet people, Hart praised the audience members for coming to see him.
It is a tribute to the generosity and understanding, the basic decency of the American people," he said during his 30-second greeting at the
Hart withdrew from the race in May following publicity about a boat
trip in the Bahamas with Miami model Donna Rice. He re-entered the race Dec. 15.
At the Chamber of Commerce dinner later in the evening, Hart referred to his wife as someone who has "probably demonstrated more courage in the last few months than most people do in a lifetime."
Hart's aunt, Lucille Kristenson, an Ottawa resident, squeezed through the crowd to give her nephew a bug. Before Hart arrived at the school, Kristenson said people were broadminded enough to understand the Rice affair.
Hart said he and his family had their commitment to public service tested in recent months.
Although most of the crowd came because of enthusiasm for Hart's campaign, others came because of curiosity.
Hart was born and raised in Ottawa, a town 20 miles south of Lawrence with a population of about 11,000.
"He's going to win," she said.
carloy.
Bill Lewin, Mission graduate student,
said he came to see a political "happening."
happening. "It's exciting to see a presidential
election come to Kansas," he said.
But not everyone in Ottawa on Saturday supported Hart. Visible across the street from the middle school was a Bob Dole campaign office. Blue and yellow signs and bumper stickers supporting the Republican Kansas senator were dislawned on the windows and door.
In his banquet speech, Hart said he and Dole had spoken about the possibility of an all-Kansas election if they each won their party's nomination.
"I'd be glad to settle for that right now," Hart said. "Just so long as the winner was the one farthest east in Kansas."
Speaking to about 500 people at the banquet, Hart said U.S. government officials should recognize the needs of young people when preparing a budget.
"It is better to pay now for what we need than to borrow from our children." he said.
Hart's budget plan includes a "strategic investment initiative." This program would add spending to areas that aid the development of the human mind, which Hart called the United States' most vital asset.
See HART, p. 5, col.1
Joe Wilkins III/KANSAN
Presidential candidate Gary Hart signs autographs and talks with supporters in Ottawa.