Kansan
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Wednesday, March 28, 2001
Sports: Kansas men's basketball walk-ons savor their tournament playing time.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: City Commission passes an ordinance requiring inspection of single-family homes.
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 111
SEE PAGE 3A
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
KUAC student representatives defend votes for team cuts
By Sarah Warren writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
In the wake of the the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation's decision March 4 to cut the men's swimming and diving and men's tennis teams, student
representatives on the KUAC board explained their decision to vote for the cuts as part of a plan to mend financial debt.
Ben Walker, student body president and Hutchinson senior, said that he voted for the plan but would have voted to save the teams if any other alternative could have been devised.
Walker;would have voted for viable alternative
"It was my understanding that we were facing a financial situation that had to be resolved," Walker said. "I certainly didn't want to do it. I don't think that anybody did."
Jessica Bankston, Nunemaker senator and Albuquerque, N.M., junior, said she
voted in favor of the cuts because it was the only responsible option.
"I voted the way I did because, as a representative of the student body, I couldn't vote for a $30 per year fee increase," she said. "I think it's a horrible decision for anyone to have to make, but at the time that was the only option the board was given."
Jessica Corcoran, member of the board and Highland Park, Texas, senior, did not attend the meeting and didn't vote.
Bankston: wants to explore avenues to save men's teams
Pat Warren, assistant director of KUAC,
said that no one on the board voted
against the program cuts but that some
members abstained from the voice vote.
Since the Athletics Department announced three weeks ago that it would cut the programs to alleviate the department's financial woes, students and alumni have had strong reactions.
Warren said that KUAC was sensitive to the feelings of the athletes, students, faculty, alumni and others who had been upset by the decision to make the cuts but that no viable alternatives had been suggested by anyone who was concerned about the cuts and who had contacted KUAC.
"It's tiresome to have constant criticism of a decision without a solution being proposed," Warren said. "I don't think anybody was in favor of cutting the sports — they were in favor of the financial solution."
Warren also defended the student board members' decisions to vote in favor of the financial plan that the program cuts were associated with.
"I think those students know more about the situation than 99 percent of the University," Warren said. "They made their decisions based on the information they were given."
Walker said there were other conflicting factors in his decision to vote for the plan.
"I know people on the teams, so it was not an easy thing to do."Walker said."I think that the donor seating plan is also necessary to alleviate the financial problems we have."
"I'd like for us to find a way for these sports to continue playing."
The donor seating plan would help relieve financial difficulties by reserving better seats to KU athletic events, namely basketball, for alumni who make the largest donations to the University.
Walker also said the financial situation the University was experiencing was a growing trend at other universities. He cited the announcement Sunday by Bill Byrne, University of Nebraska athletics director, that the university would cut its men's swimming team after this season.
Bankston suggested exploring further avenues to ensure the board didn't act hastily.
"A lot of athletics departments across the country are dealing with the same problems we are dealing with." Walker said.
— Edited by Matt Daugherty
Looking in Kansan closets
Group questions staff backgrounds
By Brooke Hesler writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A new organization, Truth in Reporting, is turning the tables on the University Daily Kansan.
The Kansan normally runs and publishes background checks on all Student Senate candidates. Most of the violations found are citations for driving while intoxicated and minor in possession.
But J.D. Jenkins, liberal arts and sciences senator and president of the new organization, said if the Kansan printed background checks this year, Truth in Reporting would run and publish background checks on Kansan staff members.
"The idea behind the group is to be a media watchdog." Jenkins said.
Jenkins said the either buy an ad in the Kansan, post the list on a Web site or hand out fliers sometime in April.
Jenkins said the group planned to
And the group's plans will probably be realized — the Kansan is in the process of running background checks and will publish them next month, said Lori O'Toole, Kansan editor.
Jenkins: will publish records of Kansan staff members
students involved with Senate thought the background checks were unfair.
Jenkins said many
the background checks were unfair. "People's employers were seeing this, and people's parents were seeing this," he said.
Dallas Rakestraw, Nunemaker senator,
representing freshmen and sophomores,
had his record printed in the Kansan last
year. Rakestraw had a minor in possession
— or MIP — citation.
"The Kansan politely told my parents that I had an MIP," Rakestraw said. "I hadn't told them vet."
Rakestraw added that while he didn't support the Kansan running background checks on candidates, he didn't support Truth in Reporting running background checks on Kansan staff members either.
O'Toole said it was necessary to run background checks on people running for public office.
"There have been people who have run who have been convicted of domestic violence and child molestation," she said. "it's all public information, and anyone can find this out."
Jenkins said he wasn't opposed to the idea of the Kansan running background checks but that minor violations like MIC citations should not be printed.
"The thing with that is where do you draw the line?" she said. "For some students an MIP or a DUI is a big deal. To be fair to everyone, we run everyone's background and print it."
Curtis Dixon, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore, said the background checks wouldn't necessarily affect the way he voted.
"I think the Kansan should print the checks though," Dixon said. "Give the voters all the information, and let them decide how they feel."
Brett Hronek, Olathe senior, said it was fair that Truth in Reporting ran background checks on Kansan staff members. "If you guys open that door, you're fair game," he said.
Edited by Leita Schultes
On the street
Students try homeless experience
Alpha Phi Alpha member Al Harris, Kansas City, Mo., senior, sits on Wescoe Beach as part of his fraternity's philanthropy, Project Homeless Alpha. Alpha Phi Alpha men are giving up their life comforts and living on the street for three days to raise money for the homeless. Photo by Justin Schmidt/KANSAN
Fraternity members collect donations with outreach project
By Danny Phillips writer@kansan.com Konson staff writer
A cold February night convinced Quincy Garner to spend three days in front of Wescoe Hall, surviving on little more than the clothes on his back and the generosity of others.
Recalling that chilly night, Garner, an Alpha Phi Alpha member who graduated last year, said he realized that although he could simply turn up the thermostat, not everyone had that luxury.
That was the inspiration for the first Project Homeless Alpha.
Garner set up rules for the community outreach project.
First, at least one fraternity member has to stay in front of Wescoe for the next two days, until sundown on Thursday.
At night, the fraternity members will hunker down inside Wescoe — unless a kind soul puts them up for the night.
The catch is that the person offering a warm place to sleep can't be a girlfriend or a close friend.
Garner said he hoped people who saw the project would give out of the kindness of their hearts and that "maybe it will affect them down the road."
All monetary donations, $37 as of yesterday afternoon, will go to the Jubilee Cafe, and any donated blankets will go to the Salvation Army.
None of the fraternity members brought blankets with them, so donations would come in handy at night.
tions would come in nanny at night. While Garner doesn't want to catch pneumonia, he said fraternity members "still want to feel the elements."
Beginning yesterday morning, after Garner had a piece of toast and checked the weather channel, he ventured out to Wescoe and situated himself just in front of the steps on some flattened cardboard boxes.
"This is something that's been done, but we've never done it before. It puts things in perspective."
Al Harris
Kansas City, Mo., senior
All he brought with him was his trumpet and a donation box.
"I was bored quickly." Garner said. "I think if I ever see a homeless person again. I'm going to give them a book."
And to get a better feel of what being homeless is really like, Garner left his cell phone at home.
When Garner first approached his fraternity brothers with the idea for the community outreach project, it wasn't met with enthusiasm.
"Basically, I'm losing contact with everybody," he said.
"They looked at me like I was crazy," he said.
But eventually, he said, he was able to convince them "why not?"
Garner said he would like Project Homeless Alpha to become an annual event.
Fraternity member Al Harris said what attracted him to the project was its uniqueness.
"This is something that's been done, but we've never done it before," said Harris, Kansas City, Mo., senior. "It puts things in perspective."
Harris said he had a pretty light schedule this semester, so it wasn't too much trouble committing to the project.
He's not taking off from work, though
The same is true for Garner, who has a job with a telemarketing firm.
"I'm homeless," Garner said, "but I'm not jobless."
- Edited by Melinda Weaver
Female tobacco-related deaths on the rise
By Livi Regenbaum
writer@kanson.com
Kansan stuff writer
Women on the pill hormones at risk for smoking maladies
For Virginia Wellington, quitting smoking will have to wait.
Wellington, Oklahoma City senior, said she was trying to quit but was avoiding it at the moment because she was on a diet.
Wellington is not alone. Though smoking has declined among women since the 1960s, the rate of decline has been slow and the number of deaths remain high, according to a report released yesterday by Surgeon General David Satcher.
"If I quit smoking now, I might start eating more, which might ruin my diet," she said.
The report shows that women account for 39 percent of smoking-related deaths, a percentage that has doubled since 1965.
Patricia Denning, physician at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said smoking posed serious health risks for college women.
"The primary health risk affects women who are on birth control pills or hormones," she said. "It increases your risk of blood clotting which causes phlebitis in the veins. It can result in blood clots that form in the lungs, which can be fatal."
Strokes, cancer and heart disease are other risk factors of smoking. Denning said.
The surgeon general reported that lung cancer was the top female cancer killer, claiming the lives of 67,600 women in 2000. More than 90 percent of lung cancer cases are because of smoking.
The report also stated that smoking could cut short a woman's life by an average of 14 years.
Denning said tobacco advertising contributed to the prevalence of smoking.
Cigarette companies spent $8.2 billion on overall advertising in 1999, a 22-percent increase.
ing that encourages teens to smoke.
But Jessica Wilson, Overland Park freshman, said she had not been influenced by television and magazine ads to start smoking.
She said she started smoking because of her family's influence.
"All my family smokes, and I kind of jumped on the bandwagon," she said. "I've tried quitting a lot of times. Eventually I plan to, but I have no desire to right now. It helps with stress."
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.
— Edited by Joshua Richards
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