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kansas lost 7-2 to Missouri State managing only four hits. Center fielder Kyle Murphy had two hits.
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© 2007 The University Daily Kansan
MED CENTER
Hospitals agree on affiliation negotiations
BY JOE HUNT
After weeks of conflict, the University of Kansas Hospital and the University of Kansas Medical Center have agreed to move forward in affiliation negotiations with St. Luke's Hospital. On Tuesday the KU Hospital Authority Board voted unanimously to accept an outline that provides the framework for the affiliation.
Initial problems in negotiations stemmed from concerns of those at KU Hospital that the affiliation would give St. Luke's Hospital an unfair advantage. St. Luke's declined to comment on the affiliation. KU Hospital was reluctant to agree to any terms that would make it difficult for it to compete with St. Luke's.
The outline plans for KU Hospital to receive funding for more than
100 residency positions during the next three to five years. The outline also increases hospital funding by $12 million a year and calls for continued talk of a new medical office building on the Med Center campus.
"It will allow us to train more doctors at KU, we can provide better training for our doctors, and we will have more resources to train those doctors," Jordan Wooden said. "Anytime you have greater collaborations between research institutes it can benefit the entire region," Wooden said.
cern was St. Luke's use of the Med Center's name and branding.
Dennis McCulloch, government and public relations director at KU Hospital, said that the main con-
"We've paid millions of dollars in ads and marketing to establish the KU Hospital brand." McCulloch said.
McCulloch said that the only way the KU Hospital would benefit from the affiliation was if the Med Center
SEE HOSPITAL ON PAGE 6A
STUDENT FINANCES Senate works to lower costs
Textbook library in review as alternative to buying
BY ASHLEE KIELER
After the Legislature withdrew a bill to provide tax-free textbooks, it looked to the University of Kansas textbook task force for alternative ways to reduce costs.
The bill was withdrawn after testimony recommended monitoring the task force's new implementations.
The University is one year ahead of what the Legislature could do, said Hannah Love, Dodge City junior and task force member.
"We looked at things to do on campus to solve problems with textbooks." Love said.
The task force, which began work in the fall, consists of three faculty members, two students and two staff members.
Early conversation focused on communicating textbook needs so an adequate supply of used and
new books could be purchased for the lowest price, said Iris Fischer, assistant professor of English and task force member.
The task force found that orders submitted on or before bookstore deadlines saved students the most money. Not only could those students buy more used books, but they could get a higher buyback value if the book was being reused. Fischer said.
"The subcommittee hopes to see more orders submitted in a timely matter" Fischer said.
The task force also found that an alternative to textbook purchasing was the creation of a textbook library.
A textbook library, much like the reserved book system,
makes textbooks available for students to check out.
Heather Howard, library assistant, said textbooks must meet certain requirements to be placed in the textbook library.
The textbooks must cost more than $100 and be required for a class of more than 100 students. The task force also decided that the 22 most-purchased books on campus would be available, including books for math, English and western civilizations courses.
Love said students could check out the books for a short amount of time, and they could be reserved in advance.
The Student Senate committees will review a bill to provide funding for the textbook library tonight. The bill asks for $26,515.29 from the Senate reserve account. If the bill passes committees, it will move to full Senate next week.
Howard said that with funding, the textbook
library should be in place for the fall semester.
"I'm really excited about the project," Howard said. "It gives the library the chance to expand services for students."
Love said the textbook task force was successful in finding solutions to lower textbook costs.
"People don't realize there's a huge effort to communicate between faculty, staff and students to fix this problem," Love said.
Kansan staff writer Ashlee Kieler can be contacted at akieler@kansan.com.
Edited by Carissa Pedigo
》 CITY COMMISSION
Landlords may face stricter regulations
BY MATT ERICKSON
Lawrence may soon hold landlords more accountable for health and safety problems with their properties.
The city commission decided unanimously Tuesday night to consider requiring landlords to obtain a license for all rental properties in the city and to undergo periodic inspections for code violations. The program would probably require most properties to be inspected annually, but commissioners discussed the possibility of requiring newer apartment complexes to be inspected less often.
The commission will study and consider the issue this summer when it prepares next year's city budget.
Mayor Mike Amyx said the commission wanted to ensure that all rental properties were fit to live in.
"I don't think anyone wants anybody to be living in any substandard housing." Amyx said.
The city currently requires rental
properties to be licensed in single family residence zones, where more than three unrelated people may not live together. The new measure being considered would extend the requirement to properties in multiple family residence zones, where most rental properties in Lawrence exist.
Several members of the public spoke for and against the expansion of the rental licensing system at the city commission meeting.
Tom Harper, a Lawrence landlord, said he owned a property in the Oread Neighborhood, which encompasses the area between campus and the downtown area, that would be affected. Harper said he would support requiring all rental properties to obtain a license.
He said many of the older houses in the Oread Neighborhood could become unsafe if not properly maintained by their owners. He said landlords who could not maintain their properties should not be renting their properties out.
"I'd hate to see a big fire happen,
or something really wrong happen, in one of these old buildings just because there was a mistake made," Harper said.
The city would pay for the rental property inspections by charging landlords a licensing fee. The city's current fee for single-family rental properties is $25 for each rental unit.
Brandy Sutton, an attorney who represents local landlords, said that cost would be transferred to tenants.
Commissioner David Schauer said he didn't think the fee would be very damaging for landlords.
"It is simply a regressive tax that we're putting on people who already cannot afford to own their own homes and are looking for affordable housing in this city," Sutton said.
Edited bv Carissa Pediao
Kansan staff writer Matt Erickson can be contacted at merickson@ kansan.com.
SCIENCE
Students research original experiments
BY NATHAN GILL
Laura Stiles and a team of researchers are building a device in Malott Hall's nuclear physics lab that they intend to install in the largest particle accelerator in the world.
Stiles' award was given to fund research on the construction and calibration of a Zero Degree Calorimeter. She said the device was a two-by-three-inch box that,
Stiles' part in the project is being funded by one of 15 Undergraduate Research Awards that the University of Kansas gave earlier this month. The awards are $600 or $1,200 grants given to students doing original, independent research. This year's winners are doing research in a variety of fields, including science, medicine, gender studies and psychology.
when installed in a particle accelerator, would help scientists measure what particles did when subjected to high-speed collisions.
"It's important to know because it tells you about how particles come out of these collisions". Stiles said.
Mark Nesbitt-Daly is co-chair of the University Honors Council Research Committee, which promotes undergraduate research at the University and selects award winners.
He said undergraduate research was important for students who wanted to gain practical experience and "do their major."
"Unless a student really engages in research, they really don't get to understand what they're major is all about," Nesbitt-Daly said.
SEE REWARD ON PAGE 6A